Anne Fairlie
University of Washington, WA·Psychology
Many college students take prescription stimulants, such as medications for attention disorders, without a prescription. This is called nonmedical use of prescription stimulants (NMPS).
- Fields
Psychology
Public Health & Epidemiology
- Topics
nonmedical use of prescription stimulants
prescription stimulant misuse
college students
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Feb 2030
What they work on
- Examine how the strength of links among nonmedical prescription stimulant use, alcohol and cannabis use, academic stress and sleep problems changes across the academic quarter, using 22 weekly surveys from 300 college students.
- Identify which parts of the feedback cycle, such as academic stress or poor sleep, raise the risk of nonmedical stimulant use in a given week when they run higher than usual, using weekly survey data.
- Test whether daily ups and downs in alcohol, cannabis and caffeine use raise same-day risk within the cycle, using two 21-day bursts of morning surveys paired with Fitbit sleep data.
- Explore whether traits such as impulsivity, sensation seeking, Greek-life membership or substance use disorder symptoms change how strongly the cycle operates.
More about the research
It is linked to unwanted physical effects, sleep problems and lower grades. It also often goes together with alcohol and cannabis use: up to 90% of young people who report NMPS also use other drugs. This project tests whether these behaviors feed a self-reinforcing cycle. In that cycle, alcohol and cannabis use may lead to missed classes and academic trouble. Students may then turn to stimulants to compensate, which can disturb sleep and keep the cycle going.
Why it matters
College students who misuse prescription stimulants alongside alcohol and cannabis face risks to their health, sleep and grades. Pinpointing which weekly and daily factors drive this cycle could help campus health services and clinicians design more targeted interventions for students who use multiple substances.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
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The school
University of Washington: 81 labs on PI Pages, $1.7B a year on research, 694 research doctorates a year.
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