Dodge, Lansford and colleagues find increased rates of alcohol or illicit substance use post COVID-19 pandemic

In newly published  research, DUPRI  investigators, Kenneth Dodge and Jennifer Lansford and their colleagues, take advantage of the longitudinal design of the Parenting Across Cultures (PAC) Study, the  Great Smoky Mountain Study (GSMS), the Fast Track Study, the Prospective Study of Infant Development (PSID) and the Child Development Project (CDP) that include data collected before and within 90-days after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic to show a significant increase, across low and middle income families, in the rate of alcohol and illicit substance use problems among adults without children, parents and adolescents. This increase in substance use problems is positively associated with a rise in depression/anxiety and household disruption, suggesting possible mechanisms for increases in substance problems. These findings suggest the need to prioritize communitywide policies including ways to reduce stressful household disruption, give more attention to mental healthcare needs and increase resources for alcohol and illicit substance use screening and intervention, especially for adolescents and young adults.

The authors acknowledge the support of the National Institutes of Health grants R01HD089899, R01HD069981, R01 HD054805, and R01 DA016903.