- Title
- University students’ perceptions of the influence of cannabis use on mental health
- Creator
- Ramodumo, Itumeleng Adolphina
- Subject
- Mental health -- Education (Higher)
- Subject
- Marijuana -- Physiological effect
- Subject
- Cannabis -- Psychological aspects
- Date Issued
- 2021-04
- Date
- 2021-04
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/51611
- Identifier
- vital:43322
- Description
- This study explored university students’ perceptions of cannabis use on mental health at a higher education institution (HEI). Cannabis is described as the most commonly used drug by youth, especially, those who are in tertiary institutions (Allen & Holder, 2014; Arria, Caldeira, Bugbee, Vincent & O’Grady, 2015). The use of cannabis has both negative and positive effects; this is evident in different areas of human functioning. Cannabis usage has been debated upon in courts, regarding its legalisation and decriminalisation, and on the 18th of September 2018, the South African High Court legalised cannabis for personal use. A qualitative study with an explorative- descriptive design was used to give a broader exploration of university students’ perceptions of the influence of cannabis on mental health. The study was conducted at an HEI in the Nelson Mandela Bay and purposive sampling was used to select 15 participants for the study. Data was collected using focused group interviews, following the granting of permission by the Nelson Mandela University Research Ethics Committee. The collected data was analysed and interpreted using thematic analysis. The research findings indicated both positive and negative influences of cannabis use on mental health. Most participants who expressed positive effects are pervious cannabis users, whereas, most participants with negative perspectives of cannabis use on mental health are non- cannabis users. The findings revealed that participants perceived that the quantity of cannabis smoked determined whether there was a positive or negative effect on mental health, that is, large doses of cannabis had negative effects. The research findings also revealed that the legalisation of cannabis is very likely to increase its use, and the precautionary measures users take to avoid the substance’s negative effects on mental health. The Cognitive Behavioural Theory was used as the lens to better understand how students perceive cannabis use and its influence on mental health.
- Description
- Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Health Sciences, 2021
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- Format
- 1 online resource (xii, 155 pages)
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Health Sciences
- Language
- English
- Rights
- rights holder
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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NMU School of Behavioural Sciences
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Ramodumo, I.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |