Students’ mental health and drug use during COVID-19: FREE webinar on survey results and implications
NeuroSight has conducted a survey in collaboration with Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) to better understand the drug behaviour of students during COVID-19. The survey reached 1,080 students who are currently studying at a UK university. The results provide insights into how universities can approach drug-related issues as well as describing the situation regarding students’ drug use and mental health.
Important results and their implications will be discussed at a free webinar, which we encourage relevant university staff to attend!
The most practical and applicable findings for universities include the ways in which universities can design interventions that are relevant to students’ needs and worries, such as what to focus on to communicate drug-related messages more effectively. Findings related to what students think of the support available at their university also provide universities with feedback on their efforts to support students during COVID-19.
The mental health screening scale - Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6)[1] - included in the survey sheds light on how mental health is related to drug behaviour and the number of students who are likely to meet the criteria for “serious mental illness”. Moreover, results on how students start using drugs and what they end up experiencing due to their drug use provide interesting insights to better understand the situation.
The summary results of the whole survey will be available to download on this website next month. Meanwhile, those who are interested can have a look at this article by Vice covering some of our findings.