Abstract (eng)
Previous studies have shown that students are more at risk in regard to the consumption of licit and illicit drugs. Therefore, they constitute an often examined part of the population. The focus of this paper is on one widely considered factor concerning the consumption-behaviour – the gender differences – and two further, thus far hardly acknowledged factors: The influences of compulsory attendance and the differences in the chosen fields of study. To achieve this goal N = 641 students from different fields of study (business administration n = 256, computer sciences n = 73, and psychology n = 312) answered a questionnaire in both lectures (49.1%) and courses with compulsory attendance (50.9%) regarding their consumption of drugs. This questionnaire included the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), a test determining the prevalence of substance use and demographic data. The results showed that the consumption rates among students are higher than those of the average population. Additionally, differences were discovered in regard to gender (9 of 15 categories; OR [1.812; 20.138]), compulsory attendance (6 of 15 categories; OR [1.930; 2.363]) and chosen field of study (12 of 15 categories; OR [1.930; 9.993]). The results imply that these factors should be considered in future research as they allow new explanatory models and approaches to prevention.