Alcohol and cannabis use among rural university students: A quantitative analysis of barriers to care, student resilience, and school climate

Abstract

Objective: This article examines impacts of student resilience, school climate, and barriers to mental health care on problematic drinking behavior and cannabis use among rural university students. Participants: A total of 948 students from a public university in a southeastern state that completed the 2019–2020 Healthy Minds Study. Methods: Cross-tabulations and multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed to test study hypotheses. Results: Students who binge drink are more likely to engage in problematic drinking behaviors than students who do not binge drink; students who engage in problematic drinking are more likely to use cannabis than those who do not engage in problematic drinking. As students face more barriers to mental health care, they are more likely to engage in problematic drinking and cannabis use; students who are more resilient are less likely to engage in problematic drinking. Conclusions: To promote health and wellbeing, universities must understand factors that impact substance use among students.

Keywords:

• Alcohol
• mental health
• rural university
• resilience
• substance use

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received Institutional Review Board approval from Tennessee Tech University.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.