Functional Impairment in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic among Cannabis Users

Abstract

Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has contributed to over 2 million deaths and hospitalization of many individuals worldwide. Although preliminary evidence suggests that cannabis use has increased during the pandemic, there has been little research on the impact of cannabis use on COVID-related psychological outcomes. Cannabis use among college students is associated with problematic psychosocial outcomes; thus, it follows that cannabis users during the pandemic may experience more functional impairment problems with daily living as a result of increased psychological distress from the pandemic and difficulty with regulating that distress. Methods: The current study tested whether cannabis use status was related to functional impairment in daily activities and whether this was due to difficulty with emotion regulation and COVID-related distress. The sample comprised of 727 (184 current cannabis users) young adults in Louisiana, a state that had some of the highest rates of COVID-19 deaths and infections in the U.S. Results: Cannabis use was related to greater functional impairment in daily activities and this relation was mediated by the sequential effects of difficulty with emotion regulation and COVID-related distress. Conclusions: Results indicated that cannabis users during the COVID-19 pandemic are experiencing problematic psychosocial outcomes further highlighting the need for the development of interventions to help target COVID-related distress and improve psychosocial functioning during the pandemic.

Keywords:

• Cannabis
• daily activities
• COVID-19
• pandemic
• COVID-19 distress
• difficulty with emotion regulation

Declaration of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Notes

1 We also tested whether cannabis use frequency was related to more functional impairment in daily activities among cannabis users (N = 180) via the serial effects of difficulty with emotion regulation then COVID-related distress. This indirect effect was not statistically significant, B = -.01, SE = .02, 95% CI: -0.04, 0.03, suggesting that observed effects are specific to cannabis users and not a function of frequency of use.