The current study seeks to examine the relationship between family struggles, as measured by social class and parental marital status, and substance use among first-generation college students. 902 students from the University of Central Florida participated in an online questionnaire that assessed their social class, parents’ marital status, drug and alcohol use, as well as demographic variables. Results indicated a significant positive correlation between substance use and social class as well as generational status. Males were also more likely to use drugs and alcohol than females. A regression analysis indicated social class, gender, junior and senior academic years were all identified as significant predictors of drug and alcohol use, whereas college student generational status, parents’ marital status, freshmen and sophomore academic years were not. There are various possible explanations that may account for the reasoning behind first-generation students not being vulnerable to substance use, including extensive stressors specific to that population as discussed with previous literature. The findings of the current study can be implicated throughout counseling centers and prevention programs among college campuses in order to decrease the high prevalence of substance use among college students and prevent negative consequences.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:honorstheses1990-2015-2888 |
| Date | 01 December 2015 |
| Creators | Vehabovic, Barbara |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | HIM 1990-2015 |
Page generated in 0.0019 seconds