Table 1.
Sample characteristics and their association with prescription stimulant use (N = 1136)
| Life time Prescription stimulant use (Weighted mean/ prevalence) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall sample (Unweighted descriptive) | No | Yes | p* | |
| Characteristics | M (SD) | M | M | |
| Age | 21.29 (2.78) | 21.26 | 22.14 | .005 |
| n (%) | % | % | ||
| Sex | ||||
| Female | 706 (62.2) | 41.3 | 69.4 | < .001 |
| Male | 430 (37.8) | 58.7 | 30.6 | |
| Residency | ||||
| Australian citizen/resident | 969 (85.6) | 85.5 | 84.1 | .753 |
| Other | 163 (14.4) | 14.5 | 15.9 | |
| International student | ||||
| Yes | 158 (14.1) | 14.0 | 15.9 | .917 |
| No | 964 (85.9) | 86.0 | 84.1 | |
| Study level | ||||
| Undergraduate | 984 (87.5) | 87.7 | 82.9 | .480 |
| Graduate/ Post-graduate | 140 (12.4) | 12.3 | 17.1 | |
| Other | 1 (0.1) | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Highest level of parents education | ||||
| High school or below | 253 (22.4) | 21.7 | 25.2 | .588 |
| Post-secondary school | 869 (76.8) | 77.4 | 74.8 | |
| Other | 10 (0.8) | 0.9 | 0.0 | |
| Hours of paid work during semester | ||||
| Zero hours | 240 (21.1) | 22.1 | 17.9 | .865 |
| 1–25 h | 636 (56.0) | 55.2 | 56.5 | |
| > 25 h | 70 (6.2) | 6.1 | 7.9 | |
| Hours vary weekly | 73 (6.4) | 6.5 | 5.3 | |
| Do not work during semester | 117 (10.3) | 10.1 | 12.4 | |
| Years studying at university | ||||
| Less than 1 year | 232 (20.6) | 20.9 | 14.3 | .207 |
| 1–3 years | 455 (40.5) | 40.6 | 34.5 | |
| 3–5 years | 329 (29.3) | 29.2 | 37.8 | |
| More than 5 years | 108 (9.6) | 9.3 | 13.4 | |
| Current study load | ||||
| Full-time | 1033 (92.0) | 92.0 | 91.9 | .943 |
| Part-time | 81 (7.2) | 7.2 | 7.0 | |
| Withdrawn/ Deferred | 9 (0.8) | 0.8 | 1.1 | |
| Mode of study | ||||
| On-campus | 1054 (94.4) | 94.6 | 93.0 | .586 |
| Off-campus/online student | 63 (5.6) | 5.4 | 7.0 | |
| Living on campus | ||||
| Yes | 102 (10.7) | 10.6 | 9.8 | .858 |
| No | 849 (89.3) | 89.4 | 90.2 | |
| Current Grade Point Average (GPA) | ||||
| Fail | 16 (1.4) | 1.4 | 4.3 | .215 |
| Pass (4.0–4.9) | 168 (15.0) | 15.2 | 18.7 | |
| Credit (5.0–5.9) | 416 (37.0) | 37.2 | 31.1 | |
| Distinction (6.0–6.9) | 376 (33.4) | 32.7 | 38.9 | |
| High Distinction (7.0) | 92 (8.2) | 8.4 | 4.0 | |
| Other | 56 (5.0) | 5.1 | 3.0 | |
| Physical health problem diagnosis | ||||
| Yes | 198 (17.4) | 16.9 | 17.8 | .428 |
| No | 938 (82.6) | 83.1 | 82.2 | |
| Mental health problem diagnosis | ||||
| Yes | 227 (20.4) | 19.0 | 32.1 | .064 |
| No | 887 (79.6) | 81.0 | 67.9 | |
| Prescription for pharmaceutical stimulants | ||||
| Yes | 16 (1.4) | 0.8 | 11.8 | < .001 |
| No | 1094 (98.6) | 99.2 | 88.2 | |
| Previous illicit drug use | ||||
| Yes | 286 (25.9) | 22.9 | 77.5 | < .001 |
| No | 818 (74.1) | 77.1 | 22.5 | |
| Frequency of alcohol use | ||||
| Never/ Less than yearly | 237 (21.5) | 22.4 | 7.7 | < .001 |
| Yearly | 228 (20.6) | 20.9 | 10.9 | |
| Monthly | 365 (33.0) | 32.7 | 39.0 | |
| Weekly or more frequent | 275 (24.9) | 24.0 | 42.4 | |
| Peer use of prescription stimulants to improve academic performance | ||||
| Yes | 369 (34.8) | 32.1 | 81.8 | < .001 |
| No | 691 (65.2) | 67.9 | 18.2 | |
*Weighted analyses were performed to examine the association between life time prescription stimulant use and sample characteristics. P-values were calculated based on designed based F-statistics