ArticleThe Journal of clinical psychiatry
Sources of Prescription Medication Misuse Among Young Adults in the United States: The Role of Educational Status.
Article in The Journal of clinical psychiatry. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
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
42 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 78 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- The epidemiology of benzodiazepine misuse: A systematic review.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2019Pooled it
- Effects of stimulant medication on neuropsychological functioning in college students without ADHD.Experimental and clinical psychopharmacology · 2026Trial
- Late adolescent nonmedical prescription stimulant sources and links to young adult nonmedical stimulant use and sources.Addictive behaviors · 2026Article
- Association Between Depressive Symptoms and Self-Reported Ongoing Medication Use Among Pharmacy Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- US Adolescents' and Young Adults' Sources for Prescription Opioid Misuse: Age, Substance Use, and Mental Health Differences.Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain · 2025Article
- National and regional trends in fentanyl seizures in the United States, 2017-2023.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- Theory-Based Social Media Intervention for Nonmedical Use of Prescription Opioids in Young Adults: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Law enforcement fentanyl seizures and overdose mortality in US counties, 2013-2020.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2024Article
- Transitions in Prescription Benzodiazepine Use and Misuse and in Substance Use Disorder Symptoms Through Age 50.Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) · 2023Article
- Psychosocial Correlates of Opioid Use Profiles among Young Adults in a Longitudinal Study across 6 US Metropolitan Areas.Substance use & misuse · 2023Article
- Prevalence and correlates of the misuse of z-drugs and benzodiazepines in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- The Initiation and Developmental Course of Prescription Drug Misuse Among High School Athletes During the Transition Through Young Adulthood.American journal of epidemiology · 2022Article
- Trends in seizures of powders and pills containing illicit fentanyl in the United States, 2018 through 2021.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2022Article
- State-Level Prevalence and Associates of Opioid Dependence in the USA.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Associations of prescription stimulant misuse with subsequent methamphetamine use among a U.S. cohort of HIV-vulnerable sexual and gender minorities who have sex with men.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2021Article
- Using a theoretical approach to predict college students' non-medical use of prescription drugs - a survival analysis.Journal of American college health : J of ACH · 2021Article
- College Students' Perceptions About Prescription Drug Misuse Among Peers.American health & drug benefits · 2021Article
- Prescription drug misuse, other substance use, and sexual identity: The significance of educational status and psychological distress in US young adults.Substance abuse · 2021Article
- Non-medical Use of Prescription Stimulants Among College Students: Non-oral Routes of Administration, Risk Factors, Motivations, and Pathways.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThis study examined prescription drug misuse (PDM), sources of PDM, and substance use disorder (SUD) symptoms as a function of educational status among US young adults based on a large nationally representative sample.
methodsData from the 2009-2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health came from a sample of 106,845 young adults aged 18-25 years. Respondents were categorized by educational status and PDM, sources of PDM, other substance use, and SUD symptoms, with analyses performed separately for prescription opioids, stimulants, and sedatives/tranquilizers.
resultsPrescription opioid (past-year: 11.9%) and sedative/tranquilizer (past-year: 5.8%) misuse were most prevalent among young adults not attending college, especially among high school dropouts. In contrast, full-time college students and college graduates had the highest rates of prescription stimulant misuse (past-year: 4.3% and 3.9%, respectively). Obtaining prescription medications from friends/relatives for free was the most common source of PDM, especially among college students/graduates. Prescription drug misusers who obtained medications from theft/fake prescriptions, purchases, or multiple sources were more likely to report past-year SUDs and had the most severe overall risk profile of concurrent substance use and SUD. More than 70% of past-month prescription drug misusers who reported multiple sources for PDM had at least 1 past-year SUD.
conclusionsSources of PDM vary by educational status among US young adults, and the college environment is associated with sharing prescription medications. Clinicians can help assess an individual's risk for SUD by determining whether the individual engaged in PDM and the source of prescription medication the individual is misusing.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.