Purpose

Evaluate changes in early adolescent substance use during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic using a prospective, longitudinal, nationwide cohort.

Methods

Participants were enrolled in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. A total of 7,842 youth (mean age = 12.4 years, range = 10.5–14.6) at 21 study sites across the U.S. completed a three-wave assessment of substance use between May and August 2020. Youth reported whether they had used alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, or other substances in the past 30 days. Data were linked to prepandemic surveys that the same youth had completed in the years 2018–2020, before the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results

Past-30-day substance use remained stable in the 6 months since stay-at-home orders were first issued in U.S. states/counties; was primarily episodic (1–2 days in the past month); and was typically limited to a single substance. Using pretest/posttest and age-period designs, we found that compared to before the pandemic, fewer youth were using alcohol and more youth were using nicotine or misusing prescription drugs. During the pandemic, youth were more likely to use substances when they were more stressed by pandemic-related uncertainty; their family experienced material hardship; their parents used alcohol or drugs; or they experienced greater depression or anxiety. Neither engagement in social distancing nor worry about COVID-19 infection was associated with substance use. Several risk factors were stronger among older (vs. younger) adolescents.

Conclusions

Among youth in early adolescence, advent of the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with decreased use of alcohol and increased use of nicotine and misuse of prescription drugs.

中文翻译：

---

COVID-19 大流行之前和期间的早期青少年物质使用：ABCD 研究队列中的纵向调查

目的

使用前瞻性纵向全国队列评估 2019 年冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 大流行期间青少年早期物质使用的变化。

方法

参与者参加了青少年大脑认知发展研究。在 2020 年 5 月至 2020 年 8 月期间，美国 21 个研究地点共有 7,842 名青年（平均年龄 = 12.4 岁，范围 = 10.5-14.6）完成了三轮物质使用评估。青年报告他们是否使用过酒精、尼古丁、在过去 30 天内吸食过大麻或其他物质。数据与同一青年在 2018-2020 年 COVID-19 大流行之前完成的大流行前调查相关联。

结果

自美国各州/县首次发布居家令以来的 6 个月内，过去 30 天的物质使用情况保持稳定；主要是偶发的（过去一个月的 1-2 天）；并且通常仅限于单一物质。使用前测/后测和年龄段设计，我们发现与大流行前相比，使用酒精的年轻人减少了，使用尼古丁或滥用处方药的年轻人增加了。在大流行期间，当年轻人受到与大流行相关的不确定性的更大压力时，他们更有可能使用药物；他们的家庭经历了物质困难；他们的父母酗酒或吸毒；或者他们经历了更严重的抑郁或焦虑。保持社交距离或担心感染 COVID-19 都与物质使用无关。一些风险因素在年长（相对于年轻）青少年中更强。

结论

在青春期早期的年轻人中，COVID-19 大流行的出现与酒精使用减少、尼古丁使用增加和处方药滥用有关。