PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCE USE PREVENTION AND REDUCTION PROGRAMS IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

Objectives: the objective of this systematic review is to describe the findings on the use of psychoactive substances in university students and the factors associated with their use to delve into the need to propose programs to reduce and prevent their use. The following questions were asked: What are the factors associated with the consumption of psychoactive substances in university students? Are there protective factors for mental health in university students? Is it necessary to implement programs to prevent and reduce the consumption of psychoactive substances in university students? Likewise, it is intended to alert higher education institutions about the young population at risk for the consumption of psychoactive substances. Methods: the study is a descriptive-exploratory systematic review that assumes a methodological route for a thematic search in the thesauri of MeSH, PubMed, and Scopus. The following equations defined the search: (factors associated with psychoactive substance use) [MeSH Terms] AND (youth people) OR (university students) AND (programs for the prevention) AND (university students). As inclusion criteria, publications had to be related to intervention programs for university students and factors associated with psychoactive substance use between the years 2013-2021 and those related to psychoactive substance use in high school students, children, couples, drivers, and pregnant women were excluded. Results: The number of records identified in the search with MeSH terms was 91,619 documents. Subsequently, a title selection was performed containing the aforementioned combinations of search terms in the title. Regarding the inclusion of the abstract, full articles were retrieved and carefully examined for content, yielding 58 articles eligible for review. Subsequently, duplicate titles and those that did not meet the criteria were eliminated, obtaining under inclusion criteria a total of 13 articles included in the review. Conclusions: The studies found emphasize the responsibility of the University to be interested in proposing interventions to reduce and prevent the use and abuse of psychoactive substances among students. These interventions could be focused on strengthening support networks, promoting protective factors, psychological well-being and intervention with the family, a program that promotes a positive vision of the future, which translates into planning a life project while becoming professionals and inclusion in groups from the wellbeing programs or any other offered by the university.