COVID‐related distress, mental health, and substance use in adolescents and young adults

Autor: Andrea C. Villanti, S. Elisha LePine, Catherine Peasley‐Miklus, Julia C. West, Maria Roemhildt, Rhonda Williams, William E. Copeland
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Child and Adolescent Mental Health. 27:138-145
ISSN: 1475-3588
1475-357X
DOI: 10.1111/camh.12550
Popis: This study examined the impact of COVID-related disruptions on mental health and substance use in young people residing in a state with an initially lower COVID burden and earlier reopening of in-person learning than other states.Data come from Waves 3 (Fall 2019) and 4 (Fall 2020) of the Policy and Communication Evaluation (PACE) Vermont, an online cohort study of adolescents (ages 12-17) and young adults (ages 18-25). Participants in Wave 4 (212 adolescents; 662 young adults) completed items on COVID-related stressors, the impact of the pandemic on their substance use, brief mental health scales, and past 30-day substance use. Analyses examined correlational and longitudinal relationships between COVID-related stressors, mental health symptoms, and substance use.More than 60% of participants noted negative effects of the pandemic on their physical, emotional, and social well-being, with greater impacts of COVID-related stressors in young adults than adolescents. There were significant increases in depressive (OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.03, 1.66) and anxiety symptoms (OR 1.34; 95% CI 1.10, 1.64) in young adults between Fall 2019 and Fall 2020. Higher overall COVID Impact scores were associated with higher odds of depressive and anxiety symptoms, as well as past 30-day electronic vapor product use, in adjusted cross-sectional and longitudinal models.Robust associations between COVID-related distress, mental health, and substance use outcomes in young people signal the opportunity to increase evidence-based interventions while adding novel approaches to minimize longer-term harms of the pandemic on mental health in adolescents and young adults.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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