Purpose The overarching goal of this study was to provide key information on how adolescents' substance use has changed since the corona virus disease (COVID)-19 pandemic, in addition to key contexts and correlates of substance use during social distancing. Methods Canadian adolescents ( n = 1,054, M age = 16.68, standard deviation = .78) completed an online survey, in which they reported on their frequency of alcohol use, binge drinking, cannabis use, and vaping in the 3 weeks before and directly after social distancing practices had taken effect. Results For most substances, the percentage of users decreased; however, the frequency of both alcohol and cannabis use increased. Although the greatest percentage of adolescents was engaging in solitary substance use (49.3%), many were still using substances with peers via technology (31.6%) and, shockingly, even face to face (23.6%). Concerns for how social distancing would affect peer reputation was a significant predictor of face-to-face substance use with friends among adolescents with low self-reported popularity, and a significant predictor of solitary substance use among average and high popularity teens. Finally, adjustment predictors, including depression and fear of the infectivity of COVID-19, predicted using solitary substance use during the pandemic. Conclusions Our results provide preliminary evidence that adolescent substance use, including that which occurs face to face with peers, thereby putting adolescents at risk for contracting COVID-19, may be of particular concern during the pandemic. Further, solitary adolescent substance use during the pandemic, which is associated with poorer mental health and coping, may also be a notable concern worthy of further investigation.

Examined how COVID-19 psychological stressors are linked with drinking behavior. • Also evaluated whether these links are different for men and women. • COVID-19 psychological distress was consistently related to alcohol use indices. • This pattern was significant only among women for quantity. • This pattern was not different for men and women for drinking frequency.

The present study examined the impact of socially based descriptive norms on willingness to drink alcohol, drinker prototype favorability, affective alcohol attitudes, and perceived vulnerability for alcohol-related consequences within the Prototype Willingness model. Descriptive norms were manipulated by having 189 young adolescents view experimenter-created profile pages from the social networking site Facebook, which either showed older peers drinking or not. The results provided evidence that descriptive norms for alcohol use, as portrayed by Facebook profiles, significantly impact willingness to use, prototypes, attitudes toward use, and perceived vulnerability. A multiple mediation analysis indicated that prototypes, attitudes, and perceptions of use mediated the relationship between the content of the Facebook profile and willingness. These results indicate that adolescents who perceive that alcohol use is normative, as evidenced by Facebook profiles, are at higher risk for cognitions shown to predict alcohol use than adolescents who do not see alcohol use portrayed as frequently on Facebook.

Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of personalized normative feedback (PNF) on college student alcohol-related risky sexual behavior (RSB). Method In a randomized controlled trial, 480 (57.6% female) sexually-active college students were stratified by gender and level of drinking and randomly assigned to an alcohol only intervention, an alcohol-related RSB only intervention, a combined alcohol and alcohol-related RSB intervention, or control. All assessment and intervention procedures were web-based. Results Results indicated a significant reduction in drinking outcomes for the alcohol only and the combined alcohol and alcohol-related RSB interventions relative to control. Findings further demonstrated a significant reduction in alcohol-related RSB outcomes for the alcohol-related RSB only and the combined alcohol and alcohol-related RSB interventions relative to control. There were no significant intervention effects on alcohol-related negative consequences. These findings demonstrate that the combined alcohol and alcohol-related RSB intervention was the only intervention successful at reducing both drinking and alcohol-related RSB outcomes relative to control. There were no significant differences when comparing the combined alcohol and alcohol-related RSB intervention to the alcohol only intervention or the alcohol-related RSB only intervention. Finally, results suggested that the intervention effects on high-risk behaviors were mediated by reductions in descriptive normative perceptions. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that PNF specific to drinking in sexual situations was needed to reduce alcohol-related RSB. Furthermore, this study highlights the potential utility of a brief intervention that can be delivered via the Internet to reduce high-risk drinking and alcohol-related RSB among college students.

Objective Young adulthood, roughly ages 18–25, is a period of great risk for excessive consumption of alcohol, especially among sexual minority women. Despite the substantial literature examining the relationships between social norms and behavior in general, little attention has been given to the role of descriptive norms on the drinking behaviors of sexual minorities. The present study had three aims: to compare both typical woman descriptive norms and sexual minority-specific descriptive normative perceptions among a sample of sexual minority women, examine reciprocal associations between sexual minority-specific descriptive norms and alcohol consumption over time, and to examine whether these reciprocal associations were moderated by sexual orientation (i.e. whether one identifies as lesbian or bisexual). Method A national sample of 1,057 lesbian and bisexual women between the ages of 18–25 were enrolled in this study. Participants completed an online survey at four time-points that assessed the constructs of interest. Results Results indicated that sexual minority women consistently perceived that sexual minority women drank more than their non-sexual minority peers; sexual minority women-specific descriptive drinking norms and alcohol consumption influenced one another over time in a reciprocal, feed-forward fashion; and these associations were not moderated by sexual orientation. Conclusions These findings highlight the importance of considering sexual minority women-specific norms as an important factor predicting alcohol consumption in sexual minority women. Results further support the development and testing of normative interventions for high risk drinking among sexual minority women.

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Objective Given widespread alcohol misuse among college students, numerous intervention programs have been developed, including personalized normative feedback (PNF). Most research evaluating PNF assumes that presenting one's own perceived norms is necessary to correct normative misperceptions and thereby reduce drinking. Alternatively, simply providing social comparison information showing that one drinks more than others may be sufficient. The present study evaluated the efficacy of full PNF (one's own drinking, campus drinking rates, and perceived norms) and a partial personalized social comparison feedback (PSCF; one's own drinking and campus drinking rates) in a randomized trial among heavy-drinking college students. Method Participants included 623 heavy-drinking students from three universities. Assessments occurred at baseline and three- and six-months post-baseline. Results Primary analyses examined differences across four drinking outcomes (drinks per week, total drinks past month, frequency of past month drinking, and negative alcohol-related consequences) at three- and six-month follow-ups controlling for the baseline variable. Results revealed significant reductions across all alcohol consumption outcomes at three months in both intervention conditions compared to attention-control. Mediation analyses demonstrated significant indirect effects of the intervention on six-month drinking through changes in perceived norms at three months. Moreover, evidence emerged for changes in drinking at three months as a mediator of the association between PSCF and six-month perceived norms. Conclusions The present research suggests PNF may not require explicit consideration of one's perceived norms in order to be effective and that direct social comparison provides an alternative theoretical mechanism for PNF efficacy.

Individuals who engage in risky sexual behavior face the possibility of experiencing negative consequences. One tenet of social learning theory is that individuals engage in behaviors partly based on observations or perceptions of others' engagement in those behaviors. The present study aimed to document these norms–behavior relationships for both risky and protective sexual behaviors, including alcohol-related sexual behavior. Gender was also examined as a possible moderator of the norms–behavior relationship. Undergraduate students (n = 759; 58.0% female) completed a Web-based survey, including various measures of drinking and sexual behavior. Results indicated that students underestimate sexual health-protective behaviors (e.g., condom use and birth control use) and overestimate the risky behaviors (e.g., frequency of drinking prior to sex, typical number of drinks prior to sex, and frequency of casual sex) of their same-sex peers. All norms were positively associated with behavior, with the exception of condom use. Furthermore, no gender differences were found when examining the relationship between normative perceptions and behavior. The present study adds to the existing literature on normative misperceptions as it indicates that college students overestimate risky sexual behavior while underestimating sexual health-protective behaviors. Implications for interventions using the social norm approach and future directions are discussed.