Gender Differences in Attitudes Towards Drug Use Among South Korean College Students: A Latent Class Analysis

This study explored latent classes of attitudes towards drug use, including both general drug-use and marijuana-specific attitudes, among Korean college students and examined how individual and societal well-being factors influence class membership, considering gender differences. Data were collected from 301 college students in Seoul, South Korea. Latent Class Analysis identified three distinct subgroups: Permissive, Moderate, and Critical Drug Attitude Groups. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that higher perceived social stigmatization was associated with a greater likelihood of belonging to the Permissive group rather than the Critical group, while higher self-esteem was associated with membership in the Moderate group. Gender-stratified analyses showed that, among men, self-control and quality of life were significant predictors of class membership, whereas, among women, self-esteem and quality of life were significant. These findings underscore the need for gender-sensitive, well-being-focused campus prevention strategies that integrate drug-related education with mental health support and stigma reduction.