OBJECTIVE: To compare European students' personal use and approval of illicit substance use with their perceptions of peer behaviours and attitudes, and investigate whether perceptions of peer norms are associated with personal use of illicit substances and attitudes. METHOD: This study used baseline data from the Social Norms Intervention for the prevention of Polydrug usE (SNIPE) project involving 4482 students from seven European countries in 2012. Students completed an online survey which included questions on personal and perceived peer illicit substance use and personal and perceived peer attitude towards illicit substances. RESULTS: 8.3% of students reported having used illicit substances at least once in their life. 49.7% of students perceived that the majority of their peers have used illicit substances more frequently than themselves. The perception was significantly associated with higher odds for personal illicit substance use (OR: 1.97, 95% CI: 1.53-2.54). The perception that the majority of peers approve illicit substance use was significantly associated with higher odds for personal approval of illicit substance use (OR: 3.47, 95% CI: 2.73-4.41). CONCLUSION: Students commonly perceived that their peers used illicit subtances more often than themselves. We found an association between the perceived peer norms/attitudes and reported individual behaviour/attitudes.

Department of Epidemiology Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research 38124 Braunschweig Germany; Hannover Medical School 30625 Hannover Germany

Department of Health Sciences Public University of Navarra 31008 Pamplona Navarra Spain

Department of Psychiatry Marmara University Medical School 34722 Istanbul Turkey

Division of Psychology University of Bradford Bradford BD7 1DP United Kingdom

Division of Psychology University of Bradford Bradford BD7 1DP United Kingdom; School of Psychology Sport and Exercise Staffordshire University Stoke On Trent ST4 2DF United Kingdom

Institute of Active Lifestyle Palacky University of Olomouc 771 47 Olomouc Czech Republic

Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology 28359 Bremen Germany

Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology 28359 Bremen Germany; Health Sciences Bremen University of Bremen 28359 Bremen Germany

Medical Sociology and Health Policy University of Antwerp 2610 Antwerp Belgium

Medical Sociology and Health Policy University of Antwerp 2610 Antwerp Belgium; Research and Development Occupational Health Services Mensura 2000 Antwerp Belgium

School of Medicine Leeds Institute of Health Sciences Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences University of Leeds Leeds LS2 9LJ United Kingdom

Unit for Health Promotion Research University of Southern Denmark 6700 Esbjerg Denmark

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