Temporal search patterns and association between methylphenidate and college entrance exams in Brazil
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30681/2526101015155Keywords:
Methylphenidate, Students, Psychotropic Drugs, Mental Health, InternetAbstract
Objective: to analyze temporal patterns of search and association between methylphenidate and university entrance exams in Brazil. Method: ecological, retrospective, and quantitative time series study using publicly available, aggregated, and non-identifiable monthly data from Google Trends, from January 2004 to April 2025. The series were obtained separately, paired by month, standardized by z-score, and examined for trend, seasonality, contemporaneous and cross-correlation, vector autoregressives, Granger temporal predictability, and impulse response function. The university entrance exam (Vestibular) was treated as an exploratory indicator of attention to selective processes. Results: interest in methylphenidate increased by approximately 161%, with higher averages in April, May, and September. The contemporaneous correlation with university entrance exams was inverse (r≈-0.58; p<0.001), and cross-correlations remained negative. Granger tests were significant in both directions (p=0.0024 and p=0.0007), and the impulse response was transient, dissipating in about five to six months. Conclusion: there was a temporal association between the indicators, but without contemporaneous positive synchronization or exclusive causal direction; the data do not allow inferences about psychological pressure, consumption, prescription, or self-medication.
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