Applying a Transformative Research Lens to Understanding Recreational Drug Use Among Young Adults

This project aims to understand the motivations behind recreational drug taking among young adults and to design intervention strategies to mitigate this usage.

Why is this important?

Recreational drug use is an Australian Government research priority, with an increasing number of young adults (aged 18-29 years) consuming illicit drugs. This is despite the known links to health issues such as chronic and acute mental health problems and neurocognitive damage. Although there are existing programs in place to address this growing issue, reporting suggests that recreational drug use is still on the rise and further investigation and support is required. This program of research therefore applies a transformative service research focus to investigate the motivators behind recreational drug use among young adults and develop social marketing ecosystem interventions to target this behaviour.

What we hope to achieve:

The key objectives for the project are:

1. Identify motivators of use for recreational drug use among young adults
2. Investigate the efficacy of behavioural and clinical interventions targeting individuals and groups
3. Design and test intervention strategies for addressing key motivators