Changes in Young Adults’ Alcohol and Marijuana Use, Norms, and Motives From Before to During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Graupensperger, Scott; Fleming, Charles B.; Jaffe, Anna E.; Rhew, Isaac C.; Patrick, Megan E.; Lee, Christine M.

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.01.008

Cited by 97 publications

(84 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Moreover, response rates are typically low when recruiting community college samples (Lee et al, 2021;Sax et al, 2008), but there is evidence that low response rates do not necessarily bias the results of survey-based studies (Fosnacht et al, 2017). Although many studies are reporting lower-than-usual response rates during the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., Graupensperger et al, 2021aGraupensperger et al, , 2021b, it is plausible that students facing more extreme distress would be less likely to participate.…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Alcohol sales have been high during the pandemic, as one study found alcohol sales have increased by 55% in March 2020, compared to that same time in 2019 (Bremner, 2020). Whereas recent cross-sectional evidence indicated that most college students self-reported drinking the same or less than before the pandemic (Graupensperger et al, 2021a, b), a longitudinal study that examined intraindividual changes in a community sample of young adults' alcohol use from January 2020 to April/May 2020 revealed that the patterns of use have shifted such that many are drinking more frequently but consuming less drinks per occasion (Graupensperger et al, 2021a). Moreover, researchers found that young adults' motives for substance use have also shifted during the pandemic.…”

mentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Moreover, researchers found that young adults' motives for substance use have also shifted during the pandemic. Pertaining to alcohol use, depression coping motives have increased while drinking for social, enhancement, and conformity reasons have decreased and, pertaining to marijuana use, using for boredom reasons increased while celebration motives decreased (Graupensperger et al, 2021a). Young adults may be more motivated to drink during the pandemic to self-medicate and cope with distress and uncertainty (Khantzian, 1997;Lechner et al, 2020).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Multifaceted COVID-19-Related Stressors and Associations with Indices of Mental Health, Well-being, and Substance Use Among Young Adults

Graupensperger

Cadigan

Einberger

et al. 2021

Int J Ment Health Addiction

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Alongside direct health concerns pertaining to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the stressors and life disruptions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic may provoke secondary concerns for health and well-being. The implications of COVID-19-related stressors may be particularly salient for young adults, who are at higher-risk for mental health concerns and substance use behaviors. We developed a multifaceted scale that assessed distinct domains of COVID-19-related stressors and examined associations between these stressors and indices of mental health, well-being, and substance use (alcohol and marijuana use). In April-June of 2020, 1181 young adults were recruited from two-and four-year colleges to participate in this study (M age = 20.40; 59.95% women). Exploratory factor analysis identified five domains of COVID-19-related stressors: job insecurity, social/relational, financial, illnessrelated, and school-related. The overall pattern of results indicated that COVID-19-related stressors were related to poorer mental health and well-being. Social/relational stressors emerged as a primary concern most strongly associated with indices of mental health and alcohol use, relative to other stressors. However, illness-related stressors and school-related stressors were associated with less alcohol use. Stressors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic may impact young adults' health and well-being but disentangling various stressor domains informs more tailored intervention and prevention strategies.

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Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 96%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multifaceted COVID-19-Related Stressors and Associations with Indices of Mental Health, Well-being, and Substance Use Among Young Adults

Graupensperger

Cadigan

Einberger

et al. 2021

Int J Ment Health Addiction

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“…Substance use (SU) patterns have changed during the COVID-19 pandemic ( Graupensperger et al, 2021 ; Pollard et al, 2020 ; Rolland et al, 2020 ), with individuals who used substances prior to the pandemic experiencing increases in quantity and frequency of SU and related consequences ( Dumas et al, 2020 ; Gritsenko et al, 2020 ; Janulis et al, 2021 ). In the general population, several risk factors for increases in SU during the pandemic have been identified, including COVID anxiety, anxious and depressive symptoms, and using substances to cope ( Dumas et al, 2020 ; Wardell et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk factors for elevations in substance use and consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic among sexual and gender minorities assigned female at birth

Dyar

Morgan

Kaysen

et al. 2021

Drug and Alcohol Dependence

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Background Problematic substance use (SU) has increased substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic. While studies have identified risk factors for problematic SU during the pandemic (e.g., anxiety, depression, using substances to cope), these studies have been predominately cross-sectional, rarely examined changes in SU contexts during the pandemic as potential risk factors, and neglected sexual and gender minorities (SGM) – a health disparity population disproportionately impacted by substance use disorders and the pandemic. Method We utilized two waves of data collected one month apart from a sample of 212 SGM assigned female at birth who used alcohol and/or cannabis (18–25 years old) collected between August 2020-February 2021. We examined associations between potential risk factors (i.e., retrospectively reported changes in anxiety/depression and in using substances in different contexts since before the pandemic): and 1) retrospectively reported changes in alcohol and cannabis consumption; 2) coping motives for use and SU consequences; and 3) subsequent changes in coping motives and consequences. Results An increase in solitary SU was a robust risk factor for concurrent and prospective increases in SU, coping motives, and consequences. Increases in SU with romantic partners were associated with concurrent increases in alcohol/cannabis consumption and consequences. Increases in anxiety and depression were associated with concurrent increases in SU and higher coping motives and consequences. Conclusions Results indicate that solitary SU and increases in SU with romantic partners are robust risk factors for increases in SU and consequences in the context of the pandemic. Further, findings provide support for the self-medication theory of substance use.

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“…A growing literature has investigated the effects of the pandemic on alcohol use among adolescents, young adults, and college students in the U.S. and found mixed results [ [11] , [12] , [13] , [14] , [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] , [19] , [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] ]. Decreases in opportunities to socialize related to the pandemic were associated with decreases in alcohol use among college students [ 11 , 12 , 18 , 20 ].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Social and Stress-Related Factors on Alcohol Use Among College Students During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Fruehwirth

Gorman

Perreira

2021

Journal of Adolescent Health

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Purpose The aim of this article is to study how Covid-19 stress-related factors and changes in social engagement during the pandemic contributed to changes in alcohol use among first-year college students. Methods We used data on 439 first-year students (ages 18–20) at a large public university in North Carolina both before (October 2019 to February 2020) and after (June/July 2020) the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. We evaluated changes in prevalence and days of alcohol use and binge drinking. We estimated the associations between Covid-19 stressors/stress (work reductions, health, distanced learning difficulties, perceived stress) and social engagement (perceived social support from friends, social isolation, and social distancing) after controlling for students’ pre-pandemic alcohol use, social engagement, and demographic characteristics. Results We found that the prevalence of alcohol use and binge drinking in the past 30 days decreased from 54.2% to 46.0% and 35.5% to 24.6%, respectively; days of use did not change significantly. The decreases were primarily associated with reductions in social engagement. Among Covid-19 stressors/stress, only challenges with distance learning were associated with higher alcohol use among those who were already drinking prior to the pandemic. Drinking increased more among those who endorsed using substances to cope, while drinking was not associated with resilient coping. Conclusions Unless new drinking habits are formed during the pandemic, decreases in alcohol use among college students are unlikely to be sustained as social distancing measures are removed. Colleges may want to target interventions to students who have responded to stress with increased alcohol use, partly by addressing difficulties with distance learning.

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Changes in Young Adults’ Alcohol and Marijuana Use, Norms, and Motives From Before to During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cited by 97 publications

References 40 publications

Multifaceted COVID-19-Related Stressors and Associations with Indices of Mental Health, Well-being, and Substance Use Among Young Adults

Multifaceted COVID-19-Related Stressors and Associations with Indices of Mental Health, Well-being, and Substance Use Among Young Adults

Risk factors for elevations in substance use and consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic among sexual and gender minorities assigned female at birth

The Effect of Social and Stress-Related Factors on Alcohol Use Among College Students During the Covid-19 Pandemic

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