Examining the impact of the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic period on youth cannabis use: adjusted annual changes between the pre-COVID and initial COVID-lockdown waves of the COMPASS study

Abstract

Background Given the high rates of cannabis use among Canadian youth and that adolescence is a critical period for cannabis use trajectories, the purpose of this paper was to examine the effect of the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic period on youth cannabis use in the context of a natural experiment. We used 3-year linked data from the COMPASS study, including 7653 Canadian (Quebec, Ontario) adolescents from which 1937 completed all 3 survey waves (pre-COVID-19 [2018, 2019] and online [2020] during the early pandemic period [May–July 2020]). Structural equation modeling (SEM) and double difference (DD) models were used to estimate pre-COVID-19 to initial COVID-19 pandemic period change (2019–2020) in cannabis use (monthly, weekly, daily) compared to 2018 to 2019 change to adjust for age-related effects. Models were adjusted for age of entry into the cohort and sociodemographic characteristics. Results In the SEM and DD models, monthly, weekly, and daily cannabis use increased across all waves; however, the expected increases from the pre-COVID-19 wave (2019) to the initial COVID-19 period wave (2020) were lesser relative to the changes seen across the 2018 to 2019 waves. The cross-sectional data from May to July 2020 identified that the majority of youth who use cannabis did not report increased cannabis use due to COVID-19 or using cannabis to cope with COVID-19. Conclusion During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic period, there does not appear to be a detrimental effect on youth cannabis use, when adjusted for age-related changes. Further prospective research is needed to explore the impact of the ongoing pandemic response on youth cannabis use onset and progression.

Examining the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on youth Alcohol Consumption: longitudinal Changes From Pre-to Intra-pandemic Drinking in the COMPASS Study

“…Since all students were exposed to COVID-19 restrictions, we have no control group. Thus, consistent with past studies [ 20 ] we assume that without the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual change in drinking score among students would be the same between the pre- and post-pandemic intervals. To examine the difference in development of alcohol consumption as a function of COVID-19 between pre pandemic (Cohort 1) and initial pandemic (Cohort 2) periods, we obtained the first difference by subtracting the drinking score of a student in T1 and T2 (pre-pandemic), and the score of a student in T2 and T3 (initial pandemic), then compared the changes pre- and initial-pandemic.…”

A longitudinal study of change in substance use from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic in young adults

“…reported increases in monthly, weekly, and daily cannabis use among 12-16 year-olds in Canada, although the increases were less than those expected based on trends observed in 2018 and 2019. 12 However, caution is needed in comparing results because of differences in legal access to cannabis, and because the response proportions for the COVID-19 data collections in the other two studies was low. 12 , 26 …”

“… 12 However, caution is needed in comparing results because of differences in legal access to cannabis, and because the response proportions for the COVID-19 data collections in the other two studies was low. 12 , 26 …”

“… 10 The 25-44 age group reported increases in binge drinking, declines in smoking and no change in e-cigarette use. 10 Other extant longitudinal studies are challenged by small sample sizes, 7 a focus on a narrow demographic or specific high-risk group rather than representative population-based samples, 7 , 11 possible selection bias due to low response proportions during COVID-19, 12 lack of generalizability due to the use of online and/or volunteer samples, 11 , 12 and a focus on one specific substance rather than measures of multiple psychoactive substances. 11 , 12 …”

An Impact Analysis of the Early Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health in a Prospective Cohort of Canadian Adolescents

“…Consistent with the approach used in a previous study [ 33 ], in the absence of a possible control group, we used an evaluation design to compare annual variations in the cohort respondents' mental health between the two pre-COVID-19 study waves (2018, 2019) and the two waves straddling the early COVID-19 era (2019, 2020). First, mean potential outcomes (i.e., estimated average adjusted predictions) and average treatment effects were obtained using Stata 15 structural equation modeling (SEM) and generalized SEM routines (StataCorp, 2017).…”