The mechanisms affecting parents’ misuse of prescription stimulant drugs to boost healthy children’s school performance are hardly unknown. Using four web-based factorial vignette surveys (2×2 between-subjects design experiment), we investigated the willingness of U.S. parents with school-aged children to medicate a fictitious 13-year-old child whose grades had declined. We examined mechanisms of informational and normative social influence on their decision-making: others’ behavior (NExperiment1 = 359), others’ definitions (NExperiment2 = 326), social control (NExperiment3 = 325), and others’ experience (NExperiment4 = 313). In addition, we explored the moderating role of influential sources (close friends vs. social media). Parents were more willing to engage in said behavior when others reported engagement in this behavior or positive drug experiences, especially if both influences were transmitted via social media. Others’ definitions and social control had no effect. Thus, social media might be a channel for the prevention of pharmacological cognitive enhancement.
AjzenI.FishbeinM. (2004). Questions raised by a reasoned action approach: Comment on Ogden (2003). Health Psychology, 23, 431–434.
2.
AkersR. L.SellersC. S. (2013). Criminological theories: Introduction and evaluation. Oxford University Press.
3.
Al-AniA.StumppS. (2016). Rebalancing interests and power structures on crowdworking platforms. Internet Policy Review, 5, 1–19.
4.
ArriaA. M.DuPontR. L. (2010). Nonmedical prescription stimulant use among college students: Why we need to do something and what we need to do. Journal of Addictive Diseases, 29, 417–426.
5.
BallN.WolbringG. (2014). Cognitive enhancement: Perceptions among parents of children with disabilities. Neuroethics, 7, 1–20.
6.
BattledayR. M.BremA.-K. (2015). Modafinil for cognitive neuroenhancement in healthy non-sleep-deprived subjects: A systematic review. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 25, 1865–1881.
7.
BavarianN.FlayB.KetchamP.SmitE. (2013). Illicit use of prescription stimulants in a college student sample: A theory-guided analysis. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 132, 665–673.
8.
BeckL.AjzenI. (1991). Predicting dishonest actions using the theory of planned behavior. Journal of Research in Personality, 25, 285–301.
9.
BerinskyA. J.MargolisM. F.SancesM. W. (2014). Separating the shirkers from the workers? Making sure respondents pay attention on self-administered surveys. American Journal of Political Science, 58, 739–753.
10.
BernhardtJ. M.FelterE. M. (2004). Online pediatric information seeking among mothers of young children: Results from a qualitative study using focus groups. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 6, Article e7.
11.
BetschC.HaaseN.RenkewitzF.SchmidP. (2015). The narrative bias revisited: What drives the biasing influence of narrative information on risk perceptions?Judgment and Decision Making, 10, 241–264.
12.
BetschC.RenkewitzF.BetschT.UlshöferC. (2010). The influence of vaccine-critical websites on perceiving vaccination risks. Journal of Health Psychology, 15, 446–455.
13.
BetschC.RenkewitzF.HaaseN. (2013). Effect of narrative reports about vaccine adverse events and bias-awareness disclaimers on vaccine decisions: A simulation of an online patient social network. Medical Decision Making, 33, 14–25.
14.
BorraC.SevillaA. (2019). Competition for university places and parental time investments: Evidence from the United Kingdom. Economic Inquiry, 57, 1460–1479.
15.
BorsariB.CareyK. B. (2009). How the quality of peer relationships influences college alcohol use. Drug and Alcohol Review, 25, 361–370.
16.
BuhrmesterM.KwangT.GoslingS. D. (2011). Amazon’s Mechanical Turk: A new source of inexpensive, yet high-quality, data?Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 3–5.
17.
CaviolaL.FaberN. S. (2015). Pills or push-ups? Effectiveness and public perception of pharmacological and non-pharmacological cognitive enhancement. Frontiers in Psychology,6, Article 1852.
18.
ChoongP.HoS.-J.McDonaldR. (2002). An examination of the effects of social desirability bias on business ethics: Research results. International Journal of Management, 19, 3–9.
19.
CialdiniR. B.GoldsteinN. J. (2004). Social influence: Compliance and conformity. Annual Review of Psychology, 55, 591–621.
CochranJ. K.MaskalyJ.JonesS.SellersC. S. (2017). Using structural equations to model Akers’ social learning theory with data on intimate partner violence. Crime & Delinquency, 63, 39–60.
23.
ColaneriN.SheldonM.AdesmanA. (2018). Pharmacological cognitive enhancement in pediatrics. Current Opinion in Pediatrics, 30, 430–437.
24.
ColemanJ. S. (1994). Foundations of social theory. Harvard University Press.
25.
ConnB. M.MarksA. K. (2014). Ethnic/racial differences in peer and parent influence on adolescent prescription drug misuse. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 35, 257–265.
26.
ConradP.BergeyM. R. (2014). The impending globalization of ADHD: Notes on the expansion and growth of a medicalized disorder. Social Science & Medicine, 122, 31–43.
27.
CroccoA.Villasis-KeeverM.JadadA. (2002). Analysis of cases of harm associated with use of health information on the internet. JAMA, 287, 2869–2871.
28.
CrutzenR.GöritzA. (2010). Social desirability and self-reported health risk behaviors in web-based research: Three longitudinal studies. BMC Public Health, 10, Article 720.
29.
C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health. (2013). One in ten teens using “study drugs,” but are parents paying attention?.
30.
CutlerK. A. (2014). Prescription stimulants are “a okay”: Applying neutralization theory to college students’ nonmedical prescription stimulant use. Journal of American College Health, 62, 478–486.
31.
d’AngeloL.-S. C.SavulichG.SahakianB. J. (2017). Lifestyle use of drugs by healthy people for enhancing cognition, creativity, motivation and pleasure. British Journal of Pharmacology, 174, 3257–3267.
32.
DeutschM.GerardH. B. (1955). A study of normative and informational social influences upon individual judgment. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 51, 629–636.
33.
DoepkeM.SorrentiG.ZilibottiF. (2019). The economics of parenting. Annual Review of Economics, 11, 55–84.
34.
DunnM. (2020). Making gigs work: Digital platforms, job quality and worker motivations. New Technology, Work and Employment, 35, 232–249.
35.
ElmoreK. C.ScullT. M.KupersmidtJ. B. (2017). Media as a “super peer”: How adolescents interpret media messages predicts their perception of alcohol and tobacco use norms. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46, 376–387.
36.
EndendijkJ. J.GroeneveldM. G.Bakermans-KranenburgM. J.MesmanJ. (2016). Gender-differentiated parenting revisited: Meta-analysis reveals very few differences in parental control of boys and girls. PLOS ONE, 11, Article e0159193.
37.
EpsteinJ. A.BangH.BotvinG. J. (2007). Which psychosocial factors moderate or directly affect substance use among inner-city adolescents?Addictive Behaviors, 32, 700–713.
38.
ExpressScripts. (2014). Turning attention to ADHD. U.S. medication trends for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
39.
ExumM. L.BouffardJ. A. (2010). Testing theories of criminal decision making: Some empirical questions about hypothetical scenarios. In PiqueroA. R.WeisburdD. (Eds.), Handbook of quantitative criminology (pp. 581–594). Springer.
40.
FaraoneS. V.RostainA. L.MontanoC. B.MasonO.AntshelK. M.NewcornJ. H. (2020). Systematic review: Nonmedical use of prescription stimulants: Risk factors, outcomes, and risk reduction strategies. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 59, 100–112.
41.
FestingerL. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7, 117–140.
42.
FordJ. A.OngJ. (2014). Non-medical use of prescription stimulants for academic purposes among college students: A test of social learning theory. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 144, 279–282.
43.
ForliniC.RacineE. (2009). Autonomy and coercion in academic “cognitive enhancement” using methylphenidate: Perspectives of key stakeholders. Neuroethics, 2, 163–177.
FrankeA.BonertzC.ChristmannM.EngeserS.LiebK. (2012). Attitudes toward cognitive enhancement in users and nonusers of stimulants for cognitive enhancement: A pilot study. American Journal of Bioethics Primary Research, 3, 48–57.
46.
Garnier-DykstraL. M.CaldeiraK. M.VincentK. B.O’GradyK. E.ArriaA. M. (2012). Nonmedical use of prescription stimulants during college: Four-year trends in exposure opportunity, use, motives, and sources. Journal of American College Health, 60, 226–234.
GraeffP.SattlerS.MehlkopG.SauerC. (2014). Incentives and inhibitors of abusing academic positions: Analysing university students’ decisions about bribing academic staff. European Sociological Review, 30, 230–241.
GrasmickH.BursikR. (1990). Conscience, significant others, and rational choice: Extending the deterrence model. Law & Society Review, 24, 837–861.
51.
HadjarA.BaierD.BoehnkeK.HaganJ. (2007). Juvenile delinquency and gender revisited: The family and power-control theory reconceived. European Journal of Criminology, 4, 33–58.
52.
HaganJ.HeflerG.ClassenG.BoehnkeK.MerkensH. (2000). Subterranean sources of subcultural delinquency beyond the American dream. In KarstedtS.BussmannK. D. (Eds.), Social dynamics of crime and control (pp. 27–51). Hart.
53.
HainmuellerJ.HangartnerD.YamamotoT. (2015). Validating vignette and conjoint survey experiments against real-world behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112, 2395–2400.
54.
HelmerS. M.PischkeC. R.Van HalG.VriesackerB.DempseyR. C.AkvardarY.Guillen-GrimaF.SalonnaF.StockC.ZeebH. (2016). Personal and perceived peer use and attitudes towards the use of nonmedical prescription stimulants to improve academic performance among university students in seven European countries. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 168, 128–134.
55.
Herrmann-WernerA.WeberH.LodaT.KeifenheimK. E.ErschensR.MölbertS. C.NikendeiC.ZipfelS.MastersK. (2019). “But Dr Google said. . .”–Training medical students how to communicate with E-patients. Medical Teacher, 41, 1434–1440.
56.
HertwigR.HoffrageU. (2013). Simple heuristics in a social world. Oxford University Press.
57.
HeyesA. R.BoardleyI. D. (2019). Psychosocial factors facilitating use of cognitive enhancing drugs in education: A qualitative investigation of moral disengagement and associated processes. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 26, 329–338.
58.
HiggsS.ThomasJ. (2016). Social influences on eating. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 9, 1–6.
59.
HiltropK.SattlerS. (under review). Parents’ perceptions and ethical assessment of non-medical drug use to enhance performance in healthy children and adolescents: Evidence from qualitative interviews.
IraniL. (2015). The cultural work of microwork. New Media & Society, 17, 720–739.
62.
KabiriS.WillitsD. W.ShadmanfaatS. M. (2019). A multitheoretical framework for assessing performance-enhancing drug use: Examining the utility of self-control, social learning, and control balance theories. Journal of Drug Issues, 49, 512–530.
63.
KeuschniggM.KratzF. (2017). Thou shalt recycle: How social norms of environmental protection narrow the scope of the low-cost hypothesis. Environment and Behavior, 50, 1059–1091.
64.
KingM. D.JenningsJ.FletcherJ. M. (2014). Medical adaptation to academic pressure: Schooling, stimulant use, and socioeconomic status. American Sociological Review, 79, 1039–1066.
65.
KrämerB.PeterC. (2020). Exemplification effects: A meta-analysis. Human Communication Research, 46, 192–221.
66.
KreuterF.PresserS.TourangeauR. (2008). Social desirability bias in CATI, IVR, and web surveys: The effects of mode and question sensitivity. Public Opinion Quarterly, 72, 847–865.
67.
LaBrieJ. W.HummerJ. F.LacA.LeeC. M. (2010). Direct and indirect effects of injunctive norms on marijuana use: The role of reference groups. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 71, 904–908.
68.
LaBrieJ. W.HummerJ. F.NeighborsC.LarimerM. E. (2010). Whose opinion matters? The relationship between injunctive norms and alcohol consequences in college students. Addictive Behaviors, 35, 343–349.
69.
LángA. (2018). Mama Mach and Papa Mach: Parental Machiavellianism in relation to dyadic coparenting and adolescents’ perception of parental behaviour. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 14, 107–124.
70.
LatanéB. (1981). The psychology of social impact. American Psychologist, 36, 343–356.
71.
London-NadeauK.ChanP.WoodS. (2019). Building conceptions of cognitive enhancement: University students’ views on the effects of pharmacological cognitive enhancers. Substance Use & Misuse, 54, 908–920.
72.
MaahsJ. R.WeidnerR. R.SmithR. (2016). Prescribing some criminological theory an examination of the illicit use of prescription stimulants among college students. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 60, 146–164.
MaierL. J.FerrisJ. A.WinstockA. R. (2018). Pharmacological cognitive enhancement among non-ADHD individuals—A cross-sectional study in 15 countries. International Journal of Drug Policy, 58, 104–112.
75.
MaierL. J.HaugS.SchaubM. P. (2016b). Prevalence of and motives for pharmacological neuroenhancement in Switzerland—Results from a national internet panel. Addiction, 111, 280–295.
76.
MaierL. J.SchaubM. P. (2015). The use of prescription drugs and drugs of abuse for neuroenhancement in Europe. European Psychologist, 20, 155–166.
77.
McCabeS. E.KnightJ.TeterC.WechslerH. (2005). Non-medical use of prescription stimulants among US college students: Prevalence and correlates from a national survey. Addiction, 100, 96–106.
78.
McCabeS. E.VelizP.WilensT. E.WestB. T.SchepisT. S.FordJ. A.PomykaczC.BoydC. J. (2019). Sources of nonmedical prescription drug misuse among US high school seniors: Differences in motives and substance use behaviors. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 58, 681–691.
79.
MolloyB. K.StockM. L.DodgeT.AspelundJ. G. (2019). Predicting future academic willingness, intentions, and Nonmedical Prescription Stimulant (NPS) use with the theory of reasoned action and prototype/willingness model. Substance Use & Misuse, 54, 2251–2263.
80.
MorenoM. A.WhitehillJ. M. (2014). Influence of social media on alcohol use in adolescents and young adults. Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, 36, 91–100.
81.
MuiH. Z.SalesP.MurphyS. (2014). Everybody’s doing it: Initiation to prescription drug misuse. Journal of Drug Issues, 44, 236–253.
82.
MullinixK. J.LeeperT. J.DruckmanJ. N.FreeseJ. (2015). The generalizability of survey experiments. Journal of Experimental Political Science, 2, 109–138.
83.
NadesanM. H. (2002). Engineering the entrepreneurial infant: Brain science, infant development toys, and governmentality. Cultural Studies, 16, 401–432.
84.
NagelS. (2019). Shaping children: Ethical and social questions that arise when enhancing the young. Springer.
85.
NapperL. E.KenneyS. R.HummerJ. F.FiorotS.LaBrieJ. W. (2016). Longitudinal relationships among perceived injunctive and descriptive norms and marijuana use. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 77, 457–463.
86.
O’ConnorC.NagelS. K. (2017). Neuro-enhancement practices across the lifecourse: Exploring the roles of relationality and individualism. Frontiers in Sociology, 2, Article 1.
87.
PatrzekJ.SattlerS.van VeenF.GrunschelC.FriesS. (2015). Investigating the effect of academic procrastination on the frequency and variety of academic misconduct: A panel study. Studies in Higher Education, 40, 1014–1029.
88.
PeraltaR. L.SteeleJ. L. (2010). Nonmedical prescription drug use among US college students at a Midwest university: A partial test of social learning theory. Substance Use & Misuse, 45, 865–887.
89.
PogarskyG. (2004). Projected offending and contemporaneous rule-violation: Implications for heterotypic continuity. Criminology, 42, 111–136.
90.
PonnetK.WoutersE.WalraveM.HeirmanW.van HalG. (2015). Predicting students’ intention to use stimulants for academic performance enhancement. Substance Use & Misuse, 50, 275–282.
91.
PoulinC. (2001). Medical and nonmedical stimulant use among adolescents: From sanctioned to unsanctioned use. CMAJ, 165, 1039–1044.
92.
RabinerD.AnastopoulosA.CostelloE.HoyleR. H.McCabeS. E.SwartzwelderH. S. (2009). Motives and perceived consequences of nonmedical ADHD medication use by college students. Journal of Attention Disorders, 13, 259–270.
93.
RacineE.ForliniC. (2010). Cognitive enhancement, lifestyle choice or misuse of prescription drugs?Neuroethics, 3, 1–4.
94.
RaganC.BardI.SinghI. (2013). What should we do about student use of cognitive enhancers? An analysis of current evidence. Neuropharmacology, 64, 588–595.
95.
RasmussenK. E.TroiloJ. (2016). “It has to be perfect!” The development of perfectionism and the family system. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 8, 154–172.
96.
RayK. (2016). Not just “study drugs” for the rich: Stimulants as moral tools for creating opportunities for socially disadvantaged students. American Journal of Bioethics, 16, 29–38.
97.
RettingerD. A.KramerY. (2009). Situational and personal causes of student cheating. Research in Higher Education, 50, 293–313.
98.
RichardsM. H.GitelsonI. B.PetersenA. C.HurtigA. L. (1991). Adolescent personality in girls and boys: The role of mothers and fathers. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 15, 65–81.
99.
SattlerS. (2016). Cognitive enhancement in Germany: Prevalence, attitudes, terms, legal status, and the ethics debate. In JotterandF.DubljevićV. (Eds.), Cognitive enhancement: Ethical and policy implications in international perspectives (pp. 159–180). Oxford University of Press.
100.
SattlerS. (2020a). Cognitive enhancement in children by using prescription drugs. In BurnsT.GottschalkF. (Eds.), Educating 21st century children (pp. 113–130). OECD.
101.
SattlerS. (2020b). Using social learning theories to better understand the variation of the moral acceptability of performance enhancement drug use. AJOB Neuroscience, 11, 248–250.
102.
SattlerS.LindenP. (under review). Unhealthy parenting strategies: Situational (dis-)incentives, Machiavellian personality, and their interaction on misuse of ADHD medication for healthy children.
103.
SattlerS.MehlkopG.GraeffP.SauerC. (2014). Evaluating the drivers of and obstacles to the willingness to use cognitive enhancement drugs: The influence of drug characteristics, social environment, and personal characteristics. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 9, 1–14.
104.
SattlerS.SinghI. (2016). Cognitive enhancement in healthy children will not close the achievement gap in education. The American Journal of Bioethics, 16, 39–41.
105.
SattlerS.WiegelC. (2013). Cognitive test anxiety and cognitive enhancement: The influence of students’ worries on their use of performance-enhancing drugs. Substance Use & Misuse, 48, 220–232.
106.
SattlerS.WörnJ. (2019). Public perceptions of prescription drug use for cognitive enhancement drug use in healthy children and adolescents. In NagelS. (Ed.), Shaping children—Ethical and social questions that arise when enhancing the young (pp. 85–104). Springer.
107.
SchelleK. J.FaulmüllerN.CaviolaL.HewstoneM. (2014). Attitudes toward pharmacological cognitive enhancement—A review. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, 8, Article 53.
108.
SchepisT. S.KlareD. L.FordJ. A.McCabeS. E. (2020). Prescription drug misuse: Taking a lifespan perspective. Substance Abuse: Research and Treatment, 14, 1–28.
109.
ShamonH.BerningC. (2019). Attention check items and instructions in online surveys with incentivized and non-incentivized samples: Boon or bane for data quality?Survey Research Methods, 14(1), 55–77.
110.
SinghI.FilipeA. M.BardI.BergeyM.BakerL. (2013). Globalization and cognitive enhancement: Emerging social and ethical challenges for ADHD clinicians. Current Psychiatry Reports, 15, 1–9.
111.
SmithE. M.FarahM. J. (2011). Are prescription stimulants ‘smart pills’? The epidemiology and cognitive neuroscience of prescription stimulant use by normal healthy individuals. Psychological Bulletin, 137, 717–741.
112.
StukusD. R. (2019). How Dr Google is impacting parental medical decision making. Immunology and Allergy Clinics, 39, 583–591.
113.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2019). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2018 National Survey on drug use and health.
114.
SutherlandE. H.CresseyD. R.LuckenbillD. (1995). The theory of differential association. In HermanJ. N. (Ed.), Deviance: A symbolic interactionist approach (pp. 64–68). Rowman & Littlefield.
115.
TeterC. J.DiRaimoC. G.WestB. T.SchepisT. S.McCabeS. E. (2020). Nonmedical use of prescription stimulants among US high school students to help study: Results from a national survey. Journal of Pharmacy Practice, 33, 38–47.
116.
TurnerC.McClureR. (2003). Age and gender differences in risk-taking behaviour as an explanation for high incidence of motor vehicle crashes as a driver in young males. Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 10, 123–130.
117.
VargoE. J.PetrócziA. (2016). “It was me on a good day”: Exploring the smart drug use phenomenon in England. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, Article 779.
118.
WallG. (2010). Mothers’ experiences with intensive parenting and brain development discourse. Women’s Studies International Forum, 33, 253–263.
119.
WatkinsW. C. (2016). A social learning approach to prescription drug misuse among college students. Deviant Behavior, 37, 601–614.
120.
WebsterM. M.LalandK. N. (2008). Social learning strategies and predation risk: Minnows copy only when using private information would be costly. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 275, 2869–2876.
121.
WellsR.WolniakG.EngbergM.ManlyC. (2016). Socioeconomic disparities in the use of college admission-enhancing strategies among high school seniors from the 1990s to 2000s. Teachers College Record, 118, 1–36.
122.
WeyandtL. L.WhiteT. L.GudmundsdottirB. G.NitensonA. Z.RathkeyE. S.De LeonK. A.BjornS. A. (2018). Neurocognitive, autonomic, and mood effects of Adderall: A pilot study of healthy college students. Pharmacy, 6, Article 58.
123.
WiegelC.SattlerS.GöritzA.DiewaldM. (2016). Work-related stress and cognitive enhancement among university teachers. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 29, 100–117.
124.
WilensT. E.AdlerL. A.AdamsJ. (2008). Misuse and diversion of stimulants prescribed for ADHD: A systematic review of the literature. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 47, 21–31.
125.
ZillmannD. (2002). Exemplification theory of media influence. Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research, 2, 19–41.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
