How adolescents used drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic
Alcohol use declined, but use of nicotine and misuse of prescription
drugs rose

Date:
August 24, 2021
Source:
University of California - San Diego
Summary:
Among adolescents ages 10 to 14 in the U.S, the overall rate
of drug use remained relatively stable in the first six months
of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, one change was a decreased
use of alcohol, but an increased use of nicotine and misuse of
prescription drugs.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in earnest in the
United States in early 2020, affected different demographic groups in
different ways.

According to a new study, among adolescents ages 10 to 14 in the United
State, the overall rate of drug use remained relatively stable in the
first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, one change was a
decreased use of alcohol, but an increased use of nicotine and misuse
of prescription drugs.


==========================================================================
The findings, publishing in the August 24, 2021 issue of the Journal
of Adolescent Health, are derived from the ongoing Adolescent Brain
Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, the largest long-term study of brain development and child health ever conducted in the United States.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has produced sustained disruptions to several
domains of adolescents' lives, including alcohol and drug use," said
first author William Pelham III, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in the Center
for Human Development at UC San Diego. "Thus, surveillance of adolescent substance use is an important public health priority." The ABCD study,
which began in 2015 with central components and leadership from UC
San Diego, is following almost 12,000 children for at least 10 years,
starting at ages 9 to 10. Researchers will track the children's biological
and behavioral development through adolescence into young adulthood.

In the current paper, researchers monitored 7,842 adolescents and their families at 21 sites across the United States for six months following
the first issuing of stay-at-home orders. In multiple surveys, the
participants were asked to describe their substance use, including
alcohol, tobacco and un- prescribed drugs.

Surveys also assessed youth's intensity of worry about COVID-19 and
measured related stressors, such as educational disruptions, loss of
jobs or hardships within their families.

Survey responses were adjusted so that ABCD participants reflected the demographics of same-age youth across the United States. Substance use
among surveyed adolescents was stable during the first six months of
the pandemic: 8 percent reported using a substance in the past 30 days;
3.4 percent reported using alcohol; 3.6 percent reported using nicotine.

Compared to pre-pandemic behavior, use of alcohol declined, but use of
nicotine or misuse of prescription drugs increased, perhaps, suggested researchers, because the latter are easier to hide when families were
locked down together.

In families that experienced loss of income or material hardship during
the pandemic, substance use among youth was higher. Heightened stress, depression and anxiety were all robustly associated with youth substance
abuse.

"Taken together, these findings underscore the disproportionate burden
of the pandemic on youth and families with pre-existing disadvantages,"
said Pelham.

"Providing material support to distressed families and linking emotionally distressed youth to support may serve as important risk-mitigation
strategies, both today and during similar events in the future."
"Continued surveillance of adolescents' alcohol and drug use as many adolescents return to their pre-pandemic routines will comprise
an important public health priority and goal of the ABCD Study."
Co-authors of this study include: Susan F. Tapert, Marybel R. Gonzalez,
Connor J. McCabe, Wesley K. Thompson, Natasha Wade and Sandra A. Brown,
UC San Diego; Krista M. Lisdahl, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee;
Elisabet R. Alzueta and Fiona C. Baker, SRI International; Forence
J. Breslin, Laureate Institute for Brain Research; Anthony Steven Dick,
Florida International University; Gayathri J. Dowling and Elizabeth
A. Hoffman, National Institute on Drug Abuse; Mathieu Guillaume, Bruce
D. McCandliss and Amandine M. Van Rinsveld, Stanford University; Andrew
T. Marshall and Elizabeth R. Sowell, University of Southern California;
Chandni S. Sheth, University of Utah.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_California_-_San_Diego. Original written by Scott La
Fee. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. William E. Pelham, Susan F. Tapert, Marybel Robledo Gonzalez,
Connor J.

McCabe, Krista M. Lisdahl, Elisabet Alzueta, Fiona C. Baker,
Florence J.

Breslin, Anthony Steven Dick, Gayathri J. Dowling, Mathieu
Guillaume, Elizabeth A. Hoffman, Andrew T. Marshall, Bruce
D. McCandliss, Chandni S.

Sheth, Elizabeth R. Sowell, Wesley K. Thompson, Amandine M. Van
Rinsveld, Natasha E. Wade, Sandra A. Brown. Early Adolescent
Substance Use Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A
Longitudinal Survey in the ABCD Study Cohort. Journal of Adolescent
Health, 2021; 69 (3): 390 DOI: 10.1016/ j.jadohealth.2021.06.015 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210824104105.htm

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