Stress, social support, and substance use in the COVID-19 pandemic

What is it about?

An investigation of how substance use was shaped by stress and social support (or lack thereof) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on early reports that alcohol sales had increased since the beginning of the pandemic, it was thought that this might be because people were drinking and using other substances to cope with the stress of what was happening in the world. This idea is in line with traditional theories about how addictions might initiate, so this study sought to investigate how stress was related to substance use in this unique context. Given some of the unique constraints introduced by the pandemic, namely physical isolation from social settings, and also given that drawing on social support is--like substance use--a common coping mechanism, this study was also interested in how social support and loneliness shaped substance use behaviors.

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Photo by Elevate on Unsplash

Photo by Elevate on Unsplash