Perceived acceptance of family on binge drinking and Cannabis consumption among spanish university students

The use of legal and illegal drugs has increased substantially in the university population. Binge drinking
(BD) is a common pattern of alcohol consumption in Spanish university students. Cannabis is the most
widely consumed illegal drug among those BD students who also take illegal drugs. Recent research has
shown that received social support from family acts as a protective factor for illicit drug use in the
university population. However, few studies have analysed the link between perceived social support
from family and drug use in university students. In this study, we compared groups of university students
in relation to alcohol/drug consumption and perceived sense of acceptance from family, a key component
of perceived social support. Data were obtained from 484 first-year university students (268 females and
216 males). Participants were classified in three groups, controls, binge drinkers and binge drinkers who
used cannabis (BD-CA) on the basis of the scores obtained in the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification
Test (AUDIT) and responses to questions on alcohol and cannabis use. Perceived sense of acceptance was
measured using the Perceived Acceptance Scale (PAS). Analysis of the data revealed a higher level of
perceived sense of acceptance from family in the controls and BD than in the BD-CA users. Differences
between females and males were only observed in the BD-CA user groups, in which females showed
lower perceived sense of acceptance from family than males. Future research should widen the research
to include other aspects of socialization, especially in peer groups.