Factors associated with psychedelic attitudes and usage among college students
W. Hwang, Yuhan Kong, Ken A. Fujimoto, Janet Cen, Alvin Villarosa
Journal of Psychedelic Studies July 4, 2025 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1556/2054.2025.00427 via Semantic Scholar
Summary
A new survey of 466 liberal arts college students finds that attitudes toward psychedelics strongly predict actual use, explaining 85.6% of the variance in lifetime use. Males, sexual minorities, older students, non-religious students, and those who used other substances held more positive attitudes, which in turn increased the likelihood of use. Lifetime psychedelic use was also directly linked to better mental health. The study validates a brief new tool, the Psychedelic Attitudes Scale (PAS), for assessing attitudes and informing harm reduction programs.
Study at a glance
| Design | observational cohort |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 466 |
| Population | liberal arts college students |
| Key finding | Attitudes toward psychedelics, as measured by the Psychedelic Attitudes Scale, mediated the relationship between demographic and substance-use factors and actual lifetime use, explaining 85.6% of the variance in use. |
Abstract
Psychedelic use among college students and young adults has been increasing, but there continues to be a shortage of research on usage among college students. The purpose of this study is to identify risk factors for psychedelics use and understand how they interact with attitudes towards psychedelic usage.Data were collected on 466 liberal arts college students. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, we validated a new and brief instrument that assessed attitudes toward psychedelics called the Psychedelic Attitudes Scale (PAS).The PAS evidenced good psychometric properties and structural equation modeling was used to investigate factors associated with use. Demographic variables, lifetime substance use, and mental health status were used as predictors, and PAS was used as a mediator, explaining 85.6% of the variance in lifetime use. Males, sexual minorities, older students, those who were not religious, and those who used other substances evidenced more positive attitudes toward psychedelics, which in turn led to a higher likelihood of actual usage. Lifetime usage was also found to be directly associated with better mental health.College is a time when many students experiment with psychedelics. Understanding risk and protective factors are important for identifying those at great risk and provides critical information for designing harm reduction programs. Moreover, the PAS fills a gap in the literature and provides a brief assessment tool that can be readily implemented with the general population and in future research studies to better understand how attitudes influence actual behaviors.