Australian University Students' Coping Strategies and Use of Pharmaceutical Stimulants as Cognitive Enhancers.
Australian University Students' Coping Strategies and Use of Pharmaceutical Stimulants as Cognitive Enhancers.
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澳大利亚大学生的应对策略和使用药物兴奋剂作为认知增强剂。
DOI：
10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00277
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发表时间：
2016
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Hall W
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Jensen C;Forlini C;Partridge B;Hall W
背景资料：有报道称，一些大学生正在使用处方兴奋剂进行非医学的“药物认知增强（PCE）”，以提高警觉性，注意力，记忆力和情绪，试图管理大学学习的需求。学术环境中对PCE的所谓需求是基于对学生动机的不完全理解，并且通常基于对兴奋剂使用环境的未经验证的假设。它们可能代表了学生试图通过抵消不充分的应对反应来科普大学生活中的生物心理社会压力源，这反过来又可能影响他们的认知表现。本研究的目的是确定（a）学生采取什么策略来科普大学生活的压力，（B）评估是否学生使用兴奋剂PCE表现出特定的压力或应对模式。研究方法：我们采访了38名大学生（有和没有PCE经验），了解他们管理学生生活的经验，特别是他们的：教育价值观;学习习惯;成就;压力管理;获得帮助;竞争活动和需求;健康习惯;和认知增强实践。所有的访谈记录都被编码成主题并进行分析。结果：我们的主题分析显示，一般来说，自评应对能力下降，随着学生的自评压力水平的增加。学生使用情绪和问题为重点的应对大部分和调整为重点的应对在较小程度上。回避是最常见的一种以情绪为中心的应对策略，其次是以问题为中心的应对策略，使用认知增强物质，以及计划和监测工作量。PCE用户主要使用回避情绪为重点的应对策略，直到他们不再减轻的痛苦接近的最后期限，导致使用处方兴奋剂作为一个物质为基础的问题为重点的应对策略。结论：我们的研究表明，学生谁选择的应对措施，不缓和压力，在可能的情况下，可能会导致自己额外的痛苦，并避免学习更有效的应对措施。帮助学生了解压力和应对，并制定现实的压力评估技术，可以帮助学生一般保持可管理的痛苦水平和功能。此外，帮助那些可能倾向于使用处方兴奋剂来提高认知能力的学生，可能会减少可能与毒品有关的伤害。
Background: There are reports that some university students are using prescription stimulants for non-medical ‘pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement (PCE)’ to improve alertness, focus, memory, and mood in an attempt to manage the demands of study at university. Purported demand for PCEs in academic contexts have been based on incomplete understandings of student motivations, and often based on untested assumptions about the context within which stimulants are used. They may represent attempts to cope with biopsychosocial stressors in university life by offsetting students’ inadequate coping responses, which in turn may affect their cognitive performance. This study aimed to identify (a) what strategies students adopted to cope with the stress of university life and, (b) to assess whether students who have used stimulants for PCE exhibit particular stress or coping patterns. Methods: We interviewed 38 university students (with and without PCE experience) about their experience of managing student life, specifically their: educational values; study habits; achievement; stress management; getting assistance; competing activities and demands; health habits; and cognitive enhancement practices. All interview transcripts were coded into themes and analyzed. Results: Our thematic analysis revealed that, generally, self-rated coping ability decreased as students’ self-rated stress level increased. Students used emotion- and problem-focused coping for the most part and adjustment-focused coping to a lesser extent. Avoidance, an emotion-focused coping strategy, was the most common, followed by problem-focused coping strategies, the use of cognition on enhancing substances, and planning and monitoring of workload. PCE users predominantly used avoidant emotion-focused coping strategies until they no longer mitigated the distress of approaching deadlines resulting in the use of prescription stimulants as a substance-based problem-focused coping strategy. Conclusion: Our study suggests that students who choose coping responses that do not moderate stress where possible, may cause themselves additional distress and avoid learning more effective coping responses. Helping students to understand stress and coping, and develop realistic stress appraisal techniques, may assist students in general to maintain manageable distress levels and functioning. Furthermore, assisting students who may be inclined to use prescription stimulants for cognitive enhancement may reduce possible drug-related harms.