Perceived parent and peer substance use disapproval and perceptions of harm among youth before and after COVID-19 lockdowns

ABSTRACT

Background

Changes in substance use among adolescence from before to after the COVID-19 lockdowns have been noted in the literature with mixed findings. Yet, no study has examined potential changes in risk or protective factors for substance use in that same period. This study assesses whether perceived parental/peer disapproval, and perceptions of substance harm among adolescents, changed from before to after COVID-19 lockdowns.

Methods

The Rhode Island Student Survey was administered to 17,751 middle and high school students from January 2020 – May 2021. Perceived parental/peer disapproval, as well as perception of harm, was measured for cigarettes, vaping, alcohol, marijuana, prescription drugs, and illegal drugs. Changes were assessed pre-post COVID-19 lockdown implementation using multivariable logistic regression.

Results

Perceptions of harm increased for all substances other than vaping, alcohol, and marijuana, and perceptions of peer and parental disapproval for all substances increased after COVID-19 lockdown implementation.

Conclusion

COVID-19 lockdown implementation may have led to greater perceptions of substance harm and peer/parental disapproval among adolescents. These shifts may have been associated with increased parental exposure and limited peer influence, which should be considered in future programming to prevent and treat adolescent substance use.

KEYWORDS:

• Parental disapproval
• peer influence
• perception of harm
• adolescent
• substance-related disorders

Acknowledgments

There are no acknowledgements to report. Everyone who has contributed significantly to this work is already included as an author. Similar work has been presented at the American Public Health Association conference: Rosenthal SR, Noel JK, Skierkowski-Foster D, Borden SK. Perceived Parent-, Peer-, and Self-Perceptions of Substance Use Harm among Rhode Island Youth Before and After COVID-19 Lockdowns. Poster presented at: American Public Health Association 2022 Annual Meeting & Expo; Boston, MA, USA. November 6, 2022.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data can be made available by reasonable request to the Rhode Island Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities & Hospitals

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/14659891.2024.2312384.

Additional information

Funding

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [grants 1B08TI083070 and 1H79SP080979].