Trends in Young Adult Alcohol and Cannabis Use through the First Year and a Half of the COVID-19 Pandemic from a Community Cohort Sample.

OBJECTIVE: There has been concern regarding increased substance use during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among young adults, but much of this concern stemmed from cross-sectional or short-term data collected early in the pandemic. This study followed a young adult community cohort throughout the first year and a half of the pandemic to examine longer-term trends/trajectories in alcohol and cannabis use behaviors. METHOD: Beginning prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2020), 656 young adults completed up to 8 surveys on substance use and other behaviors, which extended through August 2021. Multilevel spline growth models estimated changes in alcohol/cannabis use in three segments: (1) from pre-pandemic to April 2020, (2) from April 2020 to September/October 2020, and (3) from September/October 2020 to July/August 2021. Abstainers were removed from analyses, yielding subsamples for alcohol models (N=545; Mage=25.6; 59.8% female) and cannabis models (N=303; Mage=25.6; 61.4% female). RESULTS: Drinking frequency initially increased (3% per month), decreased in the second segment (4% per month), and plateaued in the final segment. Drinking quantity significantly decreased in all three segments: 4% per month in segment one, 3% per month in segment two, and 1% per month in the final segment. Cannabis frequency and quantity showed no significant changes across the first two segments, then significantly decreased in the final segment (3% and 6% per month, respectively). The significant changes for cannabis frequency/quantity were moderated by age, such that older participants had steeper decreases in the final segment. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight that young adult alcohol and cannabis use generally declined across the first year and a half of the COVID-19 pandemic, contrary to widespread concerns.

Trajectories of loneliness during COVID-19 pandemic and associations with mental health and substance use.

We examined patterns of longitudinal trajectories of loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic using six time points (January 2020 [pre-pandemic] to March/April 2021) and whether trajectories were associated with psychological distress (depression/anxiety) and substance use (alcohol/cannabis) outcomes in Spring 2021. Participants were 644 young adults who completed online assessments. Outcomes were regressed on most-likely loneliness trajectory adjusting for pre-pandemic measures. Three loneliness trajectories varied from consistently lower to consistently higher. Pre-pandemic social support was associated with lower odds of a higher loneliness trajectory. Higher loneliness trajectories were associated with greater odds of past-month cannabis use compared to Low trajectories, but not significantly associated with depression, anxiety, or alcohol use in Spring 2021. Interventions addressing co-occurring loneliness and cannabis use are needed.

Mental Health and Well-Being Trends Through the First Year-and-a-Half of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results from a Longitudinal Study of Young Adults in the USA.

This study examined longitudinal trajectories of young adults' mental health and well-being before and throughout the first year-and-a-half of the COVID-19 pandemic. Repeated assessments of a young adult community cohort (N = 656; Mage = 25.6 years; 59.3% female) were conducted beginning prior to COVID-19 (January 2020) and extending through August 2021. Multilevel spline growth models estimated changes in three segments: (a) from pre-pandemic to April/May 2020, (b) from April/May 2020 to September 2020, and (c) from September 2020 to August 2021. Depression symptoms and loneliness increased significantly in the first segment, plateaued slightly, then decreased significantly across the final segment. Anxiety symptoms were unchanged across the first two segments, but significantly decreased in the final segment. Satisfaction with life decreased significantly across the first two segments, and then increased significantly in the final segment. Direct comparisons of pre-pandemic scores (January 2020) to the last follow-up (July or August 2021) showed a return to pre-pandemic levels of depression symptoms, loneliness, and satisfaction with life, as indicated by non-significant differences, and significantly lower anxiety symptoms, relative to pre-pandemic. Findings support concerns for young adults' mental health and well-being in the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also indicate that young adults' emotional well-being, on average, may be returning to pre-pandemic levels.

Longitudinal effects of COVID-19-related stressors on young adults' mental health and wellbeing.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented young adults with novel challenges and disruptions to several life domains. The current study examined how COVID-19-related stressors (i.e., job-related, financial-related, social/relational, and illness-related stressors) relate to young adults' symptoms of depression and anxiety, and satisfaction with life (in the US). In Aim 1, we examined associations between COVID-19-related stressors and indices of mental health and well-being in the initial phase of the pandemic (April/May 2020) while accounting for participants' pre-pandemic levels of these outcomes in January of 2020 (N = 519; Mage = 25.4; 62.8% women). Social/relational stressors were most strongly associated with increased symptoms of anxiety/depression, and financial stressors were most strongly associated with decreased satisfaction with life. Extending this research longitudinally (Aim 2), we sampled young adults bi-monthly across a year-long period (September 2020 to August 2021). Multilevel models revealed within-person associations between each stressor domain and mental health/well-being; young adults reported more symptoms of depression/anxiety and lower satisfaction with life in months that stressors were relatively more salient. Interactions between stressors and time revealed associations were generally stronger in earlier months and decreased linearly across the pandemic. Taken together, longitudinal evidence indicates that COVID-19-related stressors, especially social/relational stressors, have direct and time-varying associations with mental health and well-being.