Factors associated with the use of cannabis by students at a public university

Bernardino, Isadora Laroca; Boska, Gabriella de Andrade; Zanott, Daniela Viganó; Cavalcante, Marilia Daniella Machado Araújo; Fernandes, Heloísa Garcia Claro; Luz, Priscilla de Oliveira; Malaquias, Tatiana da Silva Melo; Oliveira, Márcia Aparecida Ferreira de

doi:10.1590/1983-1447.2025.20240117.en

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Original Article • Rev. Gaúcha Enferm. 46 • 2025 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1983-1447.2025.20240117.en linkcopy

Factors associated with the use of cannabis by students at a public university

Factores asociados al consumo de cannabis por estudiantes de una universidad pública

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

Objective: To identify frequency and factors associated with the use of cannabis among students at a public university in the state of Paraná.

Method: Cross-sectional study, conducted with 168 students from a public university in central Paraná, Brazil. Data were collected between August and November 2022 through the RedCap platform containing sociodemographic variables, on the use of cannabis, problems related to consumption, and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale. Descriptive analysis and ordinary least squares multiple regression models were performed. The research was approved by the Ethics Committee.

Results: Cannabis use was reported by 84.5% of students and 13.7% had some problem related to consumption. The factors sexual orientation (homosexual p-value=0.02/asexual p-value =0.01), living with college friends (p-value=0.03) and higher income (p-value <0.001), were associated with both more days of consumption and problems. Tobacco use in the last 30 days was associated with more days of cannabis consumption (p-value=0.02) and higher levels of stress linked to consumption-related problems (p-value=0.05).

Conclusion: Cannabis use is frequent among students, and sociodemographic characteristics, the use of other substances, and stress were associated with both the number of consumption days and reported problems.

Descriptors:
Cannabis; Students; University; Mental health; Substance-related disorders

Variables		n	%
Gender	Female	96	57.1
	Male	68	40.4
	I don’t know, I prefer not to say	4	2.3
Sexual orientation	Heterosexual	83	49.4
	Homosexual	10	5.9
	Bisexual	67	39.8
	Other	4	2.4
	I don’t know, I prefer not to say	4	2.3
Self-declared color	White	133	79.1
	Black	6	3.6
	Brown	26	15.4
	Yellow	2	1.2
	I don’t know, I prefer not to say	1	0.6
Marital status	With a partner	19	11.3
	Without a partner	147	87.5
	I don’t know, I prefer not to say	2	1.2
Religion	No religion	81	48.2
	Religious	37	22.0
	I don’t know, I prefer not to say	50	29.7
Income	Up to 1,900 BRL	118	70.2
	Above 1,900 BRL	42	24.4
	I don’t know, I prefer not to say	9	5.4
Living arrangement	Family members	75	44.6
	College peers and friends	45	26.7
	Others	48	28.5

	Depression	Anxiety	Stress
Mean	9.92	7.78	11.25
Standard deviation	10.59	8.31	9.89
Minimum	0	0	0
Maximum	42	36	38

Variables		n	%
Days of consumption in the last 30 days	0	31	18.4
	1-10	65	38.7
	11-29	46	27.3
	30	26	15.4
Consumption associated with other substances	Never	68	40.4
	Rarely	16	9.5
	Weekly	33	19.6
	Monthly	42	25
	I don’t know, I prefer not to say	9	5.3
Reasons for consumption	Relaxation	139	82.7
	Reducing stress and anxiety	106	63.1
	Interacting with friends	104	61.9
	Forgetting problems	62	36.9
	Improving attention, concentration or performance	58	34.5
	Parties or specific occasions	50	29.7
	Other reasons	10	5.9
	I don’t know, I prefer not to say	9	5.3
Consumption-related problems score	0-2	145	86.3
Consumption-related problems score	3-5 - problems with use	23	13.6

Response variables	Days of cannabis consumption		Problems score
	Beta coefficient (β)	p value*	Beta coefficient (β)	p value*
Age	0.88	0.11	0.05	0.49
Female	-2.20	0.43	-0.61	0.03†
Other	-4.34	0.50	-0.49	0.46
Sexual orientation (heterosexual)*
Homosexual	8.42	0.02†	0.92	0.14
Bisexual	-1.13	0.64	-0.13	0.60
Pansexual	-2.52	0.77	1.25	0.09
Asexual	-12.68	0.01†	-1.63	0.01†
Self-declared color (black)*
Brown	-3.41	0.51	-1.76	0.02†
White	-4.11	0.44	-2.04	0.01†
Yellow	4.06	0.50	-2.98	< 0.001‡
Religion (Catholic)*
Evangelical	-2.39	0.50	-0.38	0.31
Spiritist	3.93	0.36	-0.43	0.20
African-based religions	-0.29	0.96	0.43	0.68
Atheist	-0.20	0.94	-0.02	0.94
Current living arrangement: family members*
College friends	6.88	0.03†	0.56	0.03†
Student housing	-1.12	0.86	-0.19	0.72
Income	0.00	<0.001‡	0.00	<0.001‡
Repeated a semester	-4.29	0.10	-0.65	0.03†
Depression (DASS-21)	-0.14	0.28	-0.02	0.17
Anxiety (DASS-21)	-0.16	0.42	0.00	0.92
Stress (DASS-21)	0.22	0.20	0.04	0.05†
Mental disorder diagnosis	1.78	0.40	0.08	0.72
Tobacco consumption (30 days)	0.25	0.02†	0.02	0.15
Alcohol consumption (30 days)	-0.04	0.80	0.00	0.88

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[TFN1] Source: Research data, 2022.