University of Calgary researchers are conducting a study on students’ overall well-being, substance use and addictive behaviours among current students at the school.
Dr. Victoria Burns, Dr. Renaud Gom and other researchers at the University of Calgary Recovery Community and Recovery on Campus are leading the survey. Dr. Renaud Gom, a neuroscience and Research Associate for the University, said that they were astonished to find out how many people are dealing with or looking to stay sober from past substance issues.
“What we found was honestly incredibly surprising. We found 100 people indicated that they were in recovery from either some type of substance or some type of behavioral addiction,” Gom said.
“In that study, we broke down a lot of intersectionality questions that kind of basically gave us the lay of the land. And as our program kind of expanded, we wanted to go bigger and call it better.”
Dr. Gom also said that the objective is to compare the United States and Canada to see the main differences for both countries and find how the issue is handled or viewed.
“Part of the reason why we’re doing this study in the first place is to better understand the Canadian landscape in terms of how it deals with recovery, substance use and overall addictions,” Gom said.
“We do know that in the States, the number sits at like 25 to 27 per cent of youth aged 18 to 25 experienced some type of substance use disorder in their lifetime, but we don’t know those rates among the youth in Canada.”
A priority for the researchers is to hear “the voices of every single student.” Accordingly, they broke the voting down into three groups:
- those who have never used or have never experienced a problem while using
- those who are currently struggling
- those who are recovering
Named the Super Study, Dr. Gom said, “The study challenges every single publicly funded post-secondary school in Alberta to participate and share their voice,” Gom said. ‘We have connections at the University of Calgary through Recovery on Campus with 27 publicly funded schools across Alberta and they are either mental health or student-facing leads.”
Study aims to let students be heard and offer support
Dr. Gom noted that university campuses can normalize or encourage alcohol and substance use through social events, parties and overall student life, As such, that can create a lonely or isolating environment for a student who is looking to stay sober in their recovery.
“We know that universities are alkogenic. A lot of people using substances, participating in different behaviors at any one given time. It’s not a necessarily a safe place for somebody to recover,” Gom said.
“Someone that is trying to keep their life in order and actively fighting their mental, physical and emotional well-being and to be put in an environment where’s that kind of the norm, it becomes difficult for somebody to thrive in an environment where nobody is on their side.”
Finally, Dr. Gom said the purpose for doing this study isn’t just to find results, but also to make students struggling with their addiction or recovery feel heard and supported.
“That is why we’re doing it. I’m not going to say to prove a point because that’s not exactly the truth, but it is to show, represent, and give a voice to the people and give people support where they’re otherwise not supported.”