ArticlePloS one2015
The Use of Prescription Drugs, Recreational Drugs, and "Soft Enhancers" for Cognitive Enhancement among Swiss Secondary School Students.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Prevalence and characterisation of energy drink consumption in Europe: a systematic review.Public health nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Psychological and socio-educational correlates of energy drink consumption in children and adolescents: a systematic review.European journal of pediatrics · 2022Pooled it
- Methylphenidate (Ritalin) does not improve exam performance in an experimental setting.Psychopharmacology · 2026Trial
- Short mindfulness-based intervention for psychological and academic outcomes among university students.Anxiety, stress, and coping · 2022Trial
- Acute effects of lisdexamfetamine and D-amphetamine on social cognition and cognitive performance in a placebo-controlled study in healthy subjects.Psychopharmacology · 2018Trial
- Direct comparison of the acute subjective, emotional, autonomic, and endocrine effects of MDMA, methylphenidate, and modafinil in healthy subjects.Psychopharmacology · 2018Trial
- Predictors of Psychoactive and Nootropic Substance Use Among Romanian University Healthcare Students: The Interplay Between Academic Anxiety and Educational Advancement.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The rising use of cognitive enhancement drugs and predictors of use during COVID-19: findings from a cross-sectional survey of students and university staff in the UK.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Just "Like Coffee" or Neuroenhancement by Stimulants?Frontiers in public health · 2021Article
- Pharmacological Neuroenhancement: Current Aspects of Categorization, Epidemiology, Pharmacology, Drug Development, Ethics, and Future Perspectives.Neural plasticity · 2021Review
- Pharmacological Human Enhancement: An Overview of the Looming Bioethical and Regulatory Challenges.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Review
- Effects of Expectancy on Cognitive Performance, Mood, and Psychophysiology in Healthy Adolescents and Their Parents in an Experimental Study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Article
- Hacking the Brain: Dimensions of Cognitive Enhancement.ACS chemical neuroscience · 2019Review
- Pharmacological neuroenhancement and the ability to recover from stress - a representative cross-sectional survey among the German population.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2018Article
- Prevalence Estimates for Pharmacological Neuroenhancement in Austrian University Students: Its Relation to Health-Related Risk Attitude and the Framing Effect of Caffeine Tablets.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2018Article
- A Mobile Phone-Based Life Skills Training Program for Substance Use Prevention Among Adolescents: Pre-Post Study on the Acceptance and Potential Effectiveness of the Program, Ready4life.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2017Article
- Presentations to an urban emergency department in Bern, Switzerland associated with acute recreational drug toxicity.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2017Article
- Transcranial Electrical Stimulation to Enhance Cognitive Performance of Healthy Minors: A Complex Governance Challenge.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2017Review
- Psychostimulants As Cognitive Enhancers in Adolescents: More Risk than Reward?Frontiers in public health · 2017Review
- Pharmacological Neuroenhancement: teachers' knowledge and attitudes-Results from a survey study among teachers in Germany.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
The use of prescription or recreational drugs for cognitive enhancement (CE) is prevalent among students. However, the prevalence of CE among Swiss school students is unknown. We therefore performed a cross-sectional online survey including ≥ 16-year-old students from bridge-year schools (10th grade), vocational schools, and upper secondary schools (10th-12th grade) in the Canton of Zurich to investigate the prevalence of and motives for the use of prescription drugs, recreational drugs, and/or freely available soft enhancers for CE. A total of 1,139 students were included. Of these, 54.5% reported the use of prescription drugs (9.2%), recreational drugs including alcohol (6.2%), or soft enhancers (51.3%) explicitly for CE at least once in their lives. The last-year and last-month prevalence for CE considering all substances was 45.5% and 39.5%, respectively. Soft enhancers were the substances that were most commonly used (ever, last-year, and last-month, respectively), including energy drinks (33.3%, 28.4%, and 24.6%), coffee (29.8%, 25.1%, and 21.9%), and tobacco (12.6%, 9.3%, and 8.3%). CE with methylphenidate was less prevalent (4.0%, 2.8%, and 2.0%). However, the use of prescription drugs, alcohol, or illegal drugs for CE was reported by 13.3% of the participants. The most common motives for use were to stay awake and improve concentration. CE was more prevalent among students who reported higher levels of stress or performance pressure and students with psychiatric disorders. In conclusion, half of the school students had used a substance at least once in their lives to improve school performance. Soft enhancers were most commonly used. Prevalence rates were similar to those reported by Swiss university students, indicating that the use of prescription or recreational drugs for CE already occurs before starting higher education. Performance pressure, stress, and psychiatric disorders may be associated with CE.
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