Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol or drug use symptoms and service need among youth: a cross-sectional sample from British Columbia, Canada.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Concerns about youth alcohol and drug use have risen since the declaration of the global COVID-19 pandemic due to the pandemic's impact on known risk and protective factors for substance use. However, the pandemic's immediate and long-term impact on youths' substance use patterns has been less clear. Thus, this study sought to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted alcohol or drug use and its risk and protective factors among youth accessing integrated youth services.

Methods

We conducted a repeated cross-sectional study of patient-reported outcomes data collected between May 2018 and February 2022 among youth (n = 6022) ages 10-24 accessing a provincial network of integrated youth services in Canada. The main exposure of interest was the COVID-19 pandemic (

SUBMITTER: Marchand K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9774070 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature