Experience with preventive education for alcohol use, smoking, and substance abuse among university freshmen in Japan

抄録

Introduction: School children are required to receive preventive education on alcohol use, smoking, and substance abuse. However, since few studies are available on the effect of this part of the curriculum after graduation from high school, it remains unclear whether such education is adequate for adolescents.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey of all freshmen enrolled at Shinshu University in 2010 (n = 2114). Students were questioned about their experience with preventive education in elementary, junior high, and high school.

Results: 2024 students returned completed questionnaires (response rate = 95.7%). The percentage of students reporting preventive education in the three topics increased gradually from elementary school (approximately 50%) to high school (approximately 90%). The percentage differed significantly by gender regarding alcohol use (P = 0.0322) and substance abuse (P = 0.0276) in elementary school programs, and regarding substance abuse (P = 0.0224) in junior high school programs. In addition, when students were stratified into the university’s eight faculties, the proportion of students reporting preventive education experience in the three topics differed by approximately 10% between the highest and the lowest figure.

Conclusion: We found that approximately 10% of the students had either not received preventive education concerning these three topics in high school or did not remember receiving such education. We suggest that all freshmen should receive preventive education after entering university.