Consumption of Alcohol, Cannabis, and Tobacco in a Cohort of Adolescents before and during COVID-19 Confinement

Judit Rogés, Marina Bosque-Prous, Joan Colom, Cinta Folch, Tivy Barón-Garcia, Helena González-Casals, Esteve Fernández and Albert Espelt
Additional contact information
Judit Rogés: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences of Manresa, Universitat de Vic—Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), Av. Universitària 46, 08242 Manresa, Spain
Marina Bosque-Prous: Faculty of Health Sciences, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Rambla del Poblenou, 156, 08018 Barcelona, Spain
Joan Colom: Subdirecció General de Drogodependències, Agència de Salut Pública de Catalunya, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
Cinta Folch: Centre d’Estudis Epidemiològics sobre les Infeccions de Transmissió Sexual i Sida de Catalunya (CEEISCAT), Agència de Salut Pública de Catalunya, 08916 Badalona, Spain
Tivy Barón-Garcia: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences of Manresa, Universitat de Vic—Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), Av. Universitària 46, 08242 Manresa, Spain
Helena González-Casals: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences of Manresa, Universitat de Vic—Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), Av. Universitària 46, 08242 Manresa, Spain
Esteve Fernández: Tobacco Control Unit, WHO Collaborating Center for Tobacco Control, Institut Català d’Oncologia-ICO, 08908 Barcelona, Spain
Albert Espelt: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences of Manresa, Universitat de Vic—Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), Av. Universitària 46, 08242 Manresa, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 15, 1-14

Abstract: The aim of this study was to identify changes in the hazardous consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis, due to the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 in a cohort of schooled adolescents from Central Catalonia. We also analyzed the effect of the individual and social factors on risky consumption during confinement. This longitudinal study involved a subsample of 303 adolescents aged 14–18 years, who were attending 4th year of compulsory secondary education (ESO), 2nd year of college preparation (baccalaureate), or Vocational and Educational Training (VET). We collected data before COVID-19 lockdown (October 2019–February 2020) and 2 months after the lockdown ended. We estimated the prevalence of risky substance use in the sample at baseline for each independent variable. We used Poisson regression models with robust variance to compute the Cumulative Incidence (CI) and Relative Risk (RR), with their respective 95% confidence interval. We found that VET students had a significantly ( p < 0.05) higher risk of substance use: binge drinking (RR = 3.21 (95%CI: 1.00–10.34)); hazardous drinking of alcohol (RR = 3.75 (95%CI: 1.12–12.54)), hazardous consumption of cannabis (RR = 3.75 (95%CI: 0.65–21.59)) and daily smoking of tobacco (RR = 4.82 (95%CI: 1.74–13.39)). The results showed a general trend of reduction of consumption during COVID-19 confinement period. This study suggests that VET students were more likely to engage in hazardous drinking of alcohol and daily smoking of tobacco. No statistically significant differences were found for the other age groups and variables.

Keywords: COVID-19; adolescents; risky substance use; lockdown; social isolation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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