4 TEA Lab members presented their findings on the acceptability of substance use among college students. Considering that prior research suggests substance use disorders and attention problems (e.g., ADHD) are often comorbid, this research aimed to investigate if substance use is perceived as more appropriate if the subject also has attention issues. Participants were recruited from the psychology research pool at Ohio University and completed an online survey. Participants read a series of vignettes depicting scenarios of college students engaging in harmful substances and addictive behaviors to help them complete a task (i.e. homework). For each substance/behavior, one vignette noted that the individual also had attention problems and another vignette did not include this information. Following each vignette, participants rated how "appropriate" they found the behavior (1=Not at all to 5=Extremely). Results showed that participants viewed caffeine as more appropriate if the individual did not have attention problems, but cannabis use was more appropriate if the individual had attention problems. Notably, caffeine use was seen as generally more appropriate than all other substances/behaviors.
In picture (from left to right): Kara Kaseda, Amaya Lottman, Olivia Osmun, Brayden Schlenker