"They're doing it anyway, let's have a conversation about it"

: exploring student and stakeholder attitudes towards Drug Education Programmes for university students

Abstract

Drug use among university students in the United Kingdom is estimated to be widespread, with the prevalence of illicit drug use among students increasing at a higher rate than among same-age non-student peers. The use of drugs (including alcohol) among the student population has been associated with adverse consequences including lower academic performance and self-reported health. Drug Education Programmes (DEPs) have the potential to reduce drug-related harm by providing students with practical information to help them make safe and informed decisions pertaining to drug use. However, there is a sparsity of literature exploring the use of DEPs in higher education settings.

Based on the guidance of the Person-Based Approach to intervention development, the aim of this thesis was to explore student and stakeholder perspectives on the use of DEPs in university settings, with a view to inform the development of future educational interventions. I conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with twenty university students and four individuals identified as being involved in the development and/or implementation of drug education services for university students. These interviews explored students’ experiences of drug use at university and the perceived barriers and facilitators for implementing DEPs in higher education settings. Using reflexive thematic analysis, I developed the following five themes from the interview data: 1) A culture of drug use; 2) Balancing risk and reward; 3) Drug use as a coping mechanism; 4) The current approach is failing students; and 5) A new approach.

My findings indicate that DEPs are a promising intervention to reduce drug-related harm among university students. However, students’ fears of judgement, punishment and criminalisation, which are compounded by punitive drug policies, may prevent them from fully engaging with such interventions. Successful implementation of DEPs would therefore require changes on a structural level to encourage students to access any future interventions.

Date of Award	6 Dec 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Olivia M Maynard (Supervisor) & Vicky Carlisle (Supervisor)