Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • apa.csl
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Swedish exchange students' alcohol use, drug use, risky sexual behaviour, mental health, and self-rated health: A follow-up study
Linnaeus University, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5517-6076
Linnaeus University, Sweden.
Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (starting 2013), Department of Social and Psychological Studies (from 2013).
Linnaeus University, Sweden.
Show others and affiliations
2023 (English)In: Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, ISSN 1455-0725, E-ISSN 1458-6126, Vol. 40, no 3, p. 287-300Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Aims: To follow up on exchange students' alcohol use, drug use, mental health, self-rated health, and risky sexual behaviour after a semester abroad and to compare them with students who remained on campus. Methods: The study design was a follow-up study based on a previous baseline survey of 114 prospective exchange students and 451 campus students. Of the original 565 students, 48 (42.1%) prospective exchange students and 209 (43.3%) campus students responded to the follow-up. Both the baseline survey and the follow-up survey included the General Health Questionnaire 12, one single item from Self-Rated Health, and nine items from Knowledge, Attitudes and Sexual Behaviour in Young People in Sweden. Results: We found a statistically significant increase in the weekly consumption of alcohol among exchange students after their semester abroad. A larger proportion of exchange students had sex with a new partner and sex with more than three partners during their semester abroad compared to follow-up campus students. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that exchange students consume alcohol more frequently during their semester abroad and indulge in sexually risky behaviour. Exchange students' use of alcohol and sexually risky behaviour could be associated with even greater risks due to them being in an unknown environment, unfamiliar culture, and with limited support from family and friends. This highlights the need for further research on exchange students' experiences, especially concerning alcohol use and sex while abroad.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2023. Vol. 40, no 3, p. 287-300
Keywords [en]
alcohol use, drug use, exchange students, mental health, sexually risky behaviour
National Category
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology
Research subject
Social Work
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-94116DOI: 10.1177/14550725231160331ISI: 000950302900001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85150996472OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kau-94116DiVA, id: diva2:1748426
Available from: 2023-04-03 Created: 2023-04-03 Last updated: 2023-06-08Bibliographically approved

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(556 kB)68 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT02.pdfFile size 556 kBChecksum SHA-512
4a0eabe8d648d2db6bc486c4d392fbcac50486824ae4b1b1276f913e23baca71cadcfe1f9f40f7500c06a1e36bdd73de2eab673cdb5acd67ed87f17b58d418c9
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

Other links

Publisher's full textScopus

Authority records

Smirthwaite, Goldina

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Danehorn, EmilSmirthwaite, Goldina
By organisation
Department of Social and Psychological Studies (from 2013)
In the same journal
Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs
Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 127 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 182 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • apa.csl
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf