A new study found that campaigns to prevent prescription drugs misuse can be more effective by focusing on peers and not peer pressure.
The study was conducted by researchers from Purdue University. The researchers evaluated survey interviews with 404 adults ages 18 to 29 who misused prescription drugs in the past 90 days. This included 214 in-person interviews. These individuals were recruited from popular nightlife locations such as bars, clubs, and lounges in New York City. Average misuse of prescription drugs, such as painkillers, sedatives and stimulants, was 38 times in the past 90 days.
"With the 18-29 age group we may be spending unnecessary effort working a peer pressure angle in prevention and intervention efforts. That does not appear to be an issue for this age group," said study co-author Brian Kelly, a professor of sociology and anthropology who studies drug use and youth cultures, in a press statement. "Rather, we found more subtle components of the peer context as influential. These include peer drug associations, peers as points of drug access, and the motivation to misuse prescription drugs to have pleasant times with friends."
"People normally think about peer pressure in that peers directly and actively pressure an individual to do what they are doing," said Kelly, who also is director of Purdue's Center for Research on Young People's Health. "This study looks at that form of direct social pressure as well as more indirect forms of social pressure. We find that friends are not actively pressuring them, but it's a desire to have a good time alongside friends that matters."
For the study, researchers evaluated the role of peer factors on three prescription drug misuse outcomes: the frequency of misuse; administering drugs in ways other than swallowing, such as sniffing, smoking, and injecting the drugs; and symptoms of dependency on prescription drugs.
"We found that peer drug associations are positively associated with all three outcomes," Kelly said. "If there are high perceived social benefits or low perceived social consequences within the peer network, they are more likely to lead to a greater frequency of misuse, as well as a greater use of non-oral methods of administration and a greater likelihood of displaying symptoms of dependence. The motivation to misuse prescription drugs to have a good time with friends is also associated with all three outcomes. The number of sources of drugs in their peer group also matters, which is notable since sharing prescription drugs is common among these young adults."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has officially declared that prescription drug abuse in the United States is an epidemic.
As of 2012, overdose deaths involving prescription opioid analgesics, which are medications used to treat pain, have increased to almost 17,000 deaths a year in the United States. In 2013, only 16 percent of Americans believed that the United States is making progress in its efforts to reduce prescription drug abuse. Significantly more Americans, 37 percent, say the country is losing ground on the problem of prescription drug abuse. That figure is among the most pessimistic measures for any of the seven public health issues included in the survey.
The study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Findings will be presented at the 109th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association by study co-author Alexandra Marin, a Purdue sociology doctoral student.
