Changes in substance use among young adults during a respiratory disease pandemic

Abstract

Background: News articles, commentaries, and opinion articles have suggested that ongoing social distancing measures coupled with economic challenges during COVID-19 may worsen stress, affective state, and substance use across the globe. We sought to advance our understanding of the differences between individuals who change their substance use patterns during a public health crisis and those who do not. Methods: Cross-sectional survey of young adults (18–25 years of age) assessing respondent characteristics and vaping, tobacco, alcohol, and/or marijuana use. We calculated prevalence estimates, prevalence changes, and prevalence ratios with associated 95% confidence intervals and looked for differences with the chi-square test. Results: Of the total sample, 53.2% ( n = 542/1018) young adults reported vaping or using tobacco, alcohol, and/or marijuana. Among the 542 respondents reporting use, 34.3% reported a change in their use patterns. Among respondents reporting changes in substance use patterns during the pandemic ( n = 186), 68.8% reported an increase in alcohol use, 44.0% reported a decrease in vaping product use, and 47.3% reported a decrease in tobacco product use due to COVID-19. Substance use changed significantly for respondents with increasing degree of loneliness (continuous loneliness score: prevalence ratio = 1.12, 95% confidence interval = 1.01–1.25), anxiety (prevalence ratio = 1.45, 95% confidence interval = 1.14–1.85), and depression (prevalence ratio = 1.44, 95% confidence interval = 1.13–1.82). Conclusion: Self-reported substance use among young adults was observed to change during a pandemic, and the degree of loneliness appears to impact these changes. Innovative strategies are needed to address loneliness, anxiety, depression, and substance use during global health crises that impact social contact.

The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on snacking habits, fast-food and alcohol consumption: A systematic review of the evidence

“…A total of 1489 studies were identified through databases and reference searching and after removal of 642 duplicates, 847 studies were screened. Hence, 32 studies [ [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] , [45] , [46] ] (all cross-sectional) were included in this systematic review. Characteristics of the 32 cross-sectional included studies can be found in Table 1 .…”

“…Changes in alcohol consumption during the lockdown period were reported in 23 cross-sectional studies [ 16 , 17 , 21 , 23 , 24 , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , 31 , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] , [45] , [46] ]. Results showed that in 17 out of those 23 studies, alcohol consumption remained unchanged during the lockdown for the majority of participants [ 17 , 21 , 23 , 24 , [26] , [27] , [28] , 33 , 35 , 36 , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , 43 , 44 , 46 ]. However, a tendency towards increased alcohol consumption has been be observed for the rest of their examined participants (14.2–38.5%) in the majority of these studies (13 of 17) [ 17 , 23 , 24 , 26 , 27 , 35 , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , 43 , 44 , 46 ].…”

“…Results showed that in 17 out of those 23 studies, alcohol consumption remained unchanged during the lockdown for the majority of participants [ 17 , 21 , 23 , 24 , [26] , [27] , [28] , 33 , 35 , 36 , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , 43 , 44 , 46 ]. However, a tendency towards increased alcohol consumption has been be observed for the rest of their examined participants (14.2–38.5%) in the majority of these studies (13 of 17) [ 17 , 23 , 24 , 26 , 27 , 35 , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , 43 , 44 , 46 ]. A decline in alcohol consumption for the majority of participants during the lockdown period was reported in four studies [ 16 , 31 , 34 , 45 ] and an increase of alcohol consumption was reported for the majority of the survey participants in two studies [ 29 , 42 ].…”

“…Our results with respect to alcohol during the lockdown period showed that for the majority of the population examined the consumption remained stable [ 17 , 21 , 23 , 24 , [26] , [27] , [28] , 33 , 35 , 36 , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , 43 , 44 , 46 ]. However, a significant portion of the population examined increased its alcohol consumption during the confinement time [ 17 , 23 , 24 , 26 , 27 , 29 , 35 , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] , 46 ]. Heterogeneity in results regarding alcohol consumption can be observed even in the same country.…”

“…Similar assumptions were also made about results from France [ 35 , 36 ] and Australia [ 41 , 43 ], where a tendency towards decrease in alcohol consumption at the end of the lockdown in comparison to the beginning was observed. Results from USA were also differed between the studies [ 17 , 27 , 39 ]. In Avery et al.…”