Comparison of Alcohol and Cannabis Motives and Context of Use among United Kingdom Students

Considerable efforts have been made over a long period of time to understand the variability in substance use and the causal factors underlying it. Therefore, this study aimed to compare motives and the context of alcohol and cannabis use based on a novel measure named the Newcastle Substance Use Questionnaire (NSUQ). Participants were recruited from five universities in the United Kingdom. A total of 58 participants reported using of both alcohol and cannabis during the previous year of the study. Comparisons of motives and context were conducted using General Linear Model - Repeated Measure Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) through International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) version 21.0. There are differences and similarities regarding motives and contexts of alcohol and cannabis use. “Improving social interaction” was the highest rated on alcohol use, whereas “improving cognitive performance” was the highest rated on cannabis use. Additionally, the most frequent context for both substances is “using with friends”.