College is a very exciting and thrilling time of change in a young adult’s life. Yet, it can also be a stressful period for students adjusting to what is likely their first extended period of time away from home. Students starting college must adjust to a new schedule, new location, and the stress of building new friendships and relationships. Unfortunately, some students deal with these stresses by turning to drugs and alcohol.

Not Just Peer Pressure

Peer pressure does play a role in students’ abuse of drugs and alcohol. Students adjusting to their new environment may feel pressured to participate in drinking or drug use if everyone else is doing so. Students attending college parties or other social gatherings who did not previously abuse these substances may face the challenge of being in the minority. However, not all students who do begin to abuse drugs and alcohol do so because of peer pressure. Many students do so because they are curious about the substances’ effects, or they want to feel high or relieve boredom.

Other students want to try drugs or alcohol to help them relax and forget their every day stresses. Some students begin to abuse to ease their pain or feel more independent. Studies have pointed to tendencies to abuse beginning far before college, though. In fact, certain cultural groups have a greater tendency to abuse drugs and alcohol than other groups, which can also explain the continuing abuse in college.

Some troublesome reports say that Hispanics are the most prone to drug and alcohol abuse. In fact, by the eighth grade, young Hispanics were more likely to abuse alcohol and other drugs like marijuana, crack, and heroin. Hispanics and other groups, as well as individuals, can begin to abuse for a number of reasons. These reasons can include friends who abuse, social isolation, low self-esteem, and cultural conflict. Other factors can include discrimination, drug availability, living in deteriorating neighborhoods, and absentee parenting. Children raised by single parents or who lack family rituals may also be more likely to eventually abuse.