Social norms of alcohol, smoking, and marijuana use within a Canadian university setting.

OBJECTIVE

to study actual and perceived substance use in Canadian university students and to compare these rates with US peers.

PARTICIPANTS

students (N = 1,203) from a large Canadian university.

METHODS

participants were surveyed using items from the National College Health (NCHA) Assessment of the American College Health Association questionnaire.

RESULTS

alcohol was the most common substance used (65.8%), followed by marijuana (13.5%) and cigarettes (13.5%). Substance use and norms were significantly less than the NCHA US data. Overall, respondents generally perceived the typical Canadian student to have used all 3 substances. Perceived norms significantly predicted use, with students more likely to use alcohol, cigarettes, or marijuana if they perceived the typical student to use these substances.

CONCLUSIONS

similar to their US peers, Canadian university students have inaccurate perceptions of peer substance use. These misperceptions may have potentially negative influences on actual substance use and could be a target for intervention. Further research examining the cross-cultural differences for substance abuse is warranted.