Adolescent smoking, alcohol use, inebriation, and use of narcotics during the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background The aim of the study was to investigate how general family relations, reported changes in family interaction and involvement with peers during the Covid-19 pandemic, and following rules and recommendations during the pandemic relate to adolescent smoking, alcohol use, inebriation, and use of narcotics during Covid-19. Methods An online national survey of Swedish adolescents (n = 1818) aged 15–19 years was conducted in June 2020. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to predict adolescents’ reported change in substance use during the pandemic. Person-oriented analyses, were used to identify clusters of participants characterized by similar patterns of substance use following ANOVA analysis with Scheffe post hoc tests testing differences between clusters in terms of family relations, reported changes in family interaction and involvement with peers during the Covid-19 pandemic, and following rules and recommendations during the pandemic. Results Higher general family conflict, increased involvement with peers, a strained relationship with parents, and less compliance with rules and restrictions during the pandemic predicted a reported increase in adolescent substance use during this period. The grouping of scores for adolescent smoking, alcohol use, inebriation, and use of narcotics resulted in a six-cluster solution. One cluster (n = 767) either did not use or had decreased use of substances during the Covid-19 pandemic. Five other clusters, thus risk clusters, had retained or increased use of substances during the pandemic. Poor general family relations, increased peer involvement, and difficulties to conform to the rules and restrictions during the covid-19 pandemic were characteristics of risk clusters. Conclusions Most of adolescents in our study did not increase their substance use during the pandemic. However, adolescents with poor family relations who turn to peers during stressful times and who have difficulty following the government’s rules and restrictions, are at risk of increased substance use during the pandemic. This is a potential threat both to adolescents themselves and others in their surroundings which is why at-risk adolescents and their families need more attention from public health and social services during this time of crisis.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol or drug use symptoms and service need among youth: a cross-sectional sample from British Columbia, Canada

“…For instance, exposure to violence was positively, though not significantly, associated with alcohol or drug use service need in the pandemic period. While these findings should be considered exploratory, our overall findings and the stratified analyses complement those few studies that have similarly considered risk and protective factors and substance use during the pandemic [ 14 – 16 ].…”

“…Crucially, few existing studies systematically integrated known risk and protective factors into their designs [14][15][16], despite their established effects on youth substance use and the pandemic's impact on these factors. One early pandemic study found that adolescents' alcohol and cannabis use increased, with peer-reputation concerns being significant predictors of their social contexts for substance use (i.e., alone, with friends via technology) [16].…”

Swedish High School Students’ Drug and Alcohol Use Habits throughout 2020

“…Many researchers predicted and reported negative long-term consequences among children and adolescents—particularly excessive recreational screen time, poor diet, physical inactivity, and poor sleep, but also increases in substance use, the prevalence of psychiatric disorders, and suicidal thoughts [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ]. However, a few reported that restrictions actually resulted in decreases in alcohol consumption and norm-breaking behaviors and that adolescents showed resilience [ 25 , 43 , 44 ]. Hafstad and Augusti [ 45 ], in their comment in The Lancet Psychiatry in 2021, drew attention to the fact that changes in adolescents’ mental health and risk behaviors during the pandemic cannot and should not be simply interpreted as consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions—increased psychological distress levels could be measured in adolescents even before the pandemic.…”

Prevalence of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and resilience in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic in a post-armed conflict area in Colombia

“…The family environment has been particularly affected during the pandemic, with global studies reporting increased rates of domestic violence and strained parent-child relationships (51)(52)(53). This also affects the likelihood of substance abuse: a Swedish study showed that adolescents with higher family con ict and tense relationship with parents had higher risks of substance abuse (54).…”

“…The CD-RISC-25 scale is designed to explore ve factors related to resilience as personal competence, tolerance and strength, positiveness, control and spiritual in uences. For the CD-RISC-25 in our sample (n=657), the median was 54 and the observed distribution of the scores by quartile was Q1 [0-39], Q2 [40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54], Q3 [55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69] and Q4 [70-100].…”