A Longitudinal Study on Changes in Consumption and Attitudes towards Drugs and Consumption Changes in Alcohol and Smoking among University Students Based on a Retrospective Panel Design

This article primarily aims to provide research-based evidence to explore the changes in behavior and attitude towards drugs and smoking during tertiary education. Methodologically, this study employs retrospective longitudinal method. The research data have been collected through a survey. The survey includes a sample of 299 male and female students of Kharizmi University in Tehran. They have been selected on the basis of a non-probabilistic proportional sampling method. According to the results of this study, the university students’ attitudes towards drugs and smoking have changed during their tertiary education: approximately one-third of them changed their attitudes positively, and the attitudes of almost another one-third changed negatively. However, the results suggest that the changes in the university students’ behavior towards drugs and smoking during their tertiary education are significantly associated with such determinants as gender and field of study. On the one hand, about two-third of the sample have reported no significant behavior change regarding the use of drugs and smoking during their tertiary education. On the other hand, the proportion of those who started or increased the use of drugs and smoking during tertiary education (positive behavior change) exceeds the proportion of those who stopped or reduced the use of drugs and smoking during tertiary education (negative behavior change). In sum, the results of this study indicate the fact that tertiary education tends to enhance the positive behavior change in the consumption of drugs and smoking.