Factors differentiating frequent and sporadic marijuana use in college students

Although marijuana use is highly prevalent among university students in Argentina, little is known about the factors that distinguish frequent marijuana users from sporadic users. For this reason, the present study investigated the possible variations in the contexts of consumption, motives for consumption, perceived norms, and protective behavioral strategies among university students with frequent or sporadic marijuana use, and analyzed the usefulness of this set of variables to distinguish between these two types of users. For this purpose, a sample of 1083 Argentine university students completed an online survey on substance use. In particular, this work was conducted with the subsample that reported using marijuana in the last 30 days (n=158; 51.3 % female). The survey asked about marijuana use and associated negative consequences, as well as motives for use, perceived social norms, and protective behavioral strategies. As a result, frequent users had a higher number of negative consequences (M=4.92) than sporadic users (M=1.82; p=.05), and a distinctive profile was found on a set of variables. At the multivariate level, cheerleading motives (OR=1.230; p=.05), protective behavioral strategies (OR=.941; p=.05), solo use (OR=2.024; p=.05), and college party use (OR=2.669; p=.05) discriminated significantly between the two classes of users. Overall, the findings revealed heterogeneous subpopulations of marijuana users that differ not only in use and its consequences, but also in contexts of use and in a set of relevant variables. These distinct subpopulations require different and specific interventions.

Automated summary

This study investigated the differences between frequent and sporadic marijuana users among university students in Argentina. The findings revealed distinct variations in consumption backgrounds, motives, perceived norms, and protective strategies, and suggested the usefulness of these variables in distinguishing between the two types of users.