College student goals in the context of prescription stimulant misuse: An application of goals–plans–action theory

摘要

Guided by goals–plans–action theory (Dillard, 1990), this study examines the goals andstrategic message plans underlying college student interventions to prevent or reduce peers’misuse of prescription stimulants. College students (n = 115) participated in an onlinesurvey in which they read a hypothetical scenario of a close friend’s Adderall misuse.Participants were prompted to provide the goals they would have for an intervention andstrategic message plans for how they would intervene. Results of grounded theory analysisreveal five unique goals for these interactions, as well as six strategic message plans. Posthoc analyses revealed that several of the strategic message plans could be predicted bycollege students’ underlying goals for the interaction. These findings are discussed in termsof their theoretical and practical implications.