Top

International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction

Published in:

19-04-2022 | Coronavirus | Original Article

Mental Health Risk Profiles and Related Substance Use During Coronavirus Pandemic Among College Students Who Use Substances

Authors: Margo Hurlocker, Michael B. Madson, P. Priscilla Lui, Robert Dvorak, Lindsay S. Ham, Thad Leffingwell, Alison Looby, Ellen Meier, Kevin Montes, Lucy E. Napper, Mark A. Prince, Monica Skewes, Byron L. Zamboanga, Harm Reduction Research Team

Published in: International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction | Issue 6/2023

Abstract

College students have shown elevated mental distress during the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19). The extent and persistence of mental distress as COVID-19 restrictions have continued is unclear. This study used latent profile analysis to identify student mental health risk subgroups and to evaluate subgroups in relation with substance use. A four-profile solution was supported with a sample of 930 college students (69.6% female, 58.1% White) from 11 US-based institutions. Students were characterized by slight mental health symptoms, mild mental health symptoms, moderate-to-severe mental health symptoms with mild psychosis/substance use, and severe mental health symptoms. The severe profile comprised more ethnoracial or sexual minorities and students impacted from COVID-19. Whereas the severe profile had more alcohol-related consequences, the slight profile had fewer cannabis-related consequences. COVID-19 has exacerbated college student risks for psychiatric disorders. Students of diverse backgrounds and more impacted by COVID-19 show disproportionately more mental distress and related substance use.

Ali, R., Awwad, E., Babor, T. F., Bradley, F., Butau, T., Farrell, M., Formigoni, M. L. O. S., Isralowitz, R., De Lacerda, R. B., Marsden, J., McRee, B., Monteiro, M., Pal, H., Rubio-Stipec, M., & Vendetti, J. (2002). The alcohol, smoking and substance involvement screening test (ASSIST): Development, reliability and feasibility. Addiction, 97(9), 1183–1194. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1360-0443.2002.00185.xCrossRef

American Psychiatric Association (2013). DSM-5 self-rated level 1 cross-cutting symptom measure-Adult.

Auerbach, R., Mortier, P., Bruffaerts, R., Alonso, J., Benjet, C., Cuijpers, P., Demyttenaere, K., Ebert, D., Green, J., Murray, E., Nock, M., Pinder-amaker, S., Sampson, N., Stein, D., Vilagut, G., Zaslavsky, A., & Kessler, R. (2019). Student project : Prevalence and distribution of mental Disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 127(7), 623–638. https://doi.org/10.1037/abn0000362.TheCrossRef

Bakk, Z., & Vermunt, J. K. (2016). Robustness of stepwise latent class modeling with continuous distal outcomes. Structural Equation Modeling, 23(1), 20–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2014.955104CrossRef

Batra, K., Sharma, M., Batra, R., Singh, T. P., & Schvaneveldt, N. (2021). Assessing the psychological impact of covid-19 among college students: An evidence of 15 countries. Healthcare (switzerland), 9(2), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9020222CrossRef

Bravo, A. J., Villarosa-Hurlocker, M. C., Pearson, M. R., Prince, M. A., Madson, M. B., Henson, J. M., Looby, A., Gonzalez, V. M., Henslee, A. M., Cuttler, C., Wong, M. M., & McChargue, D. E. (2018). College student mental health: An evaluation of the DSM-5 self-rated level 1 cross-cutting symptom measure. Psychological Assessment, 30(10), 1382–1389. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000628CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Browning, M. H. E. M., Larson, L. R., Sharaievska, I., Rigolon, A., McAnirlin, O., Mullenbach, L., Cloutier, S., Vu, T. M., Thomsen, J., Reigner, N., Metcalf, E. C., D’Antonio, A., Helbich, M., Bratman, G. N., & Alvarez, H. O. (2021). Psychological impacts from COVID-19 among university students: Risk factors across seven states in the United States. PLoS ONE, 16(1), e0245327. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245327CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Buckner, J. D., Ecker, A. H., & Cohen, A. S. (2010). Mental health problems and interest in marijuana treatment among marijuana-using college students. Addictive Behaviors, 35(9), 826–833. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2010.04.001CrossRefPubMed

Chang, C. J., Feinstein, B. A., Chu, B. C., & Selby, E. A. (2021). The negative impact of COVID-19 on sexual minority young adults: Demographic differences and prospective associations with depression. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 8(2), 220–227. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000494CrossRef

Charles, N. E., Strong, S. J., Burns, L. C., Bullerjahn, M. R., & Serafine, K. M. (2021). Increased mood disorder symptoms, perceived stress, and alcohol use among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychiatry Research, 296(June 2020), 113706.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Christie, N. C., Vojvodic, V., & Monterosso, J. R. (2021). The early impact of social distancing measures on drug use. Substance Use and Misuse, 56(7), 997–1004. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2021.1901934CrossRefPubMed

Clarke, D. E., & Kuhl, E. A. (2014). DSM-5 cross-cutting symptom measures: A step towards the future of psychiatric care? World Psychiatry, 13(3), 314–316. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20154CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Coakley, K. E., Lardier, D. T., Holladay, K. R., Amorim, F. T., Mechler, H., & Zuhl, M. N. (2021). Mental health severity is associated with increases in alcohol consumption in young adult students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 39(3), 328–341. https://doi.org/10.1080/07347324.2021.1917325CrossRef

Collins, L. M., Lanza, S. T. (2010). Latent class and latent transition analysis: With applications in the social, behavioral, and health sciences. Latent class and latent transition analysis: With applications in the social, behavioral, and health sciences, 1–295. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470567333

Collins, R. L., Parks, G. A., & Marlatt, G. A. (1985). Social Determinants of Alcohol Consumption The effects of social interaction and model status on the self-administration of alcohol. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53(2), 189–200. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.53.2.189CrossRefPubMed

Conway, L. G. (2020). Social psychological measurements of COVID-19: Coronavirus perceived threat, government response, impacts, and experiences questionnaire.

Fernández, R. S., Crivelli, L., Guimet, N. M., Allegri, R. F., & Pedreira, M. E. (2020). Psychological distress associated with COVID-19 quarantine: Latent profile analysis, outcome prediction and mediation analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 277(August), 75–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.07.133CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Geisner, I. M., Mallett, K., & Kilmer, J. R. (2012). An examination of depressive symptoms and drinking patterns in first year college students. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 33(5), 280–287. https://doi.org/10.3109/01612840.2011.653036CrossRefPubMed

Graham, J. W., Taylor, B. J., Olchowski, A. E., & Cumsille, P. E. (2006). Planned missing data designs in psychological research. Psychological Methods, 11(4), 323–343. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.11.4.323CrossRefPubMed

Kahler, C. W., Strong, D. R., & Read, J. P. (2005). Toward efficient and comprehensive measurement of the alcohol problems continuum in college students: The brief young adult alcohol consequences questionnaire. Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research, 29(7), 1180–1189. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.ALC.0000171940.95813.A5CrossRefPubMed

Kapilashrami, A., & Bhui, K. (2020). Mental health and COVID-19: Is the virus racist? British Journal of Psychiatry, 217(2), 405–407. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2020.93CrossRef

Kar, N., Kar, B., & Kar, S. (2021). Stress and coping during COVID-19 pandemic: Result of an online survey. Psychiatry Research, 295(November 2020), 113598. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113598CrossRefPubMed

Nylund, K. L., Asparouhov, T., & Muthén, B. O. (2007). Deciding on the number of classes in latent class analysis and growth mixture modeling: A Monte Carlo simulation study. Structural Equation Modeling, 14(4), 535–569.CrossRef

Liu, Z., Zhang, Y., Zhang, R., Liu, R., Liang, L., Wang, Y., Zhu, R., Wang, F., & First, T. (2021). Application of latent class analysis in assessing the mental health of medical students during the COVID-19 epidemic. Manuscript is current under review.

Liu, Z., Zhang, E., Wong, G. T. F., Hyun, S., & Hahm, H. (2020). Factors associated with depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptomatology during the COVID-19 pandemic: Clinical implications for US young adult mental health. Psychiatry Research, 290, 113172.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Mohr, C. D., Umemoto, S. K., Rounds, T. W., Bouleh, P., & Arpin, S. N. (2021). 178 journal of studies on alcohol and drugs / march 2021 drinking to cope in the covid-19 era: An investigation among college students. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 82(2), 178–187. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.2021.82.178CrossRefPubMed

Narrow, W. E., Clarke, D. E., Kuramoto, J., Kraemer, H. C., Kupfer, D. J., Greiner, L., & Regier, D. A. (2013). DSM-5 field trials in the United States and Canada, part III: Development and reliability testing of a cross-cutting symptom assessment for DSM-5. American Journal of Psychiatry, 170(1), 71–82. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2012.12071000CrossRefPubMed

Oswalt, S. B., Lederer, A. M., Chestnut-Steich, K., Day, C., Halbritter, A., & Ortiz, D. (2020). Trends in college students’ mental health diagnoses and utilization of services, 2009–2015. Journal of American College Health, 68(1), 41–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2018.1515748CrossRefPubMed

Papp, L. M., & Kouros, C. D. (2021). Effect of COVID-19 disruptions on young adults’ affect and substance use in daily life. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000748CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Patterson, Z. R., Gabrys, R. L., Prowse, R. K., Abizaid, A. B., Hellemans, K. G. C., & McQuaid, R. J. (2021). The Influence of COVID-19 on Stress, Substance Use, and Mental Health Among Postsecondary Students. Emerging Adulthood. https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968211014080CrossRef

Pearson, M. R., Bravo, A. J., Conner, B. T., Anthenien, A. M., Conner, B. T., Correia, C. J., Dvorak, R. D., Egerton, G. A., Hustad, J. T. P., Kholodkov, T., King, K. M., Liese, B. S., Messina, B. G., Murphy, J. G., Neighbors, C., Nguyen, X. T., Parnes, J. E., Pearson, M. R., Pedersen, E. R., … Read, J. P. (2017). Distinguishing subpopulations of marijuana users with latent profile analysis. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 172, 1–8 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.10.043

Salerno, J. P., Shrader, C. H., Algarin, A. B., Lee, J. Y., & Fish, J. N. (2021). Changes in alcohol use since the onset of COVID-19 are associated with psychological distress among sexual and gender minority university students in the US. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 221(020), 108594. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108594CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Satre, D. D., Iturralde, E., Ghadiali, M., Young-Wolff, K., Campbell, C., Leibowitz, A. S., & Sterling, S. A. (2020). Treatment for anxiety and substance use disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic: Challenges and strategies. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 14(6), e293–e296.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Sheidow, A. J., McCart, M., Zajac, K., & Davis, M. (2012). Prevalence and impact of substance use among emerging adults with serious mental health conditions. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 35(3), 235–243. https://doi.org/10.2975/35.3.2012.235.243CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Simons, J. S., Dvorak, R. D., Merrill, J. E., & Read, J. P. (2012). Dimensions and severity of marijuana consequences: Development and validation of the Marijuana Consequences Questionnaire (MACQ). Addictive Behaviors, 37(5), 613–621. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2012.01.008CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Son, C., Hegde, S., Smith, A., Wang, X., & Sasangohar, F. (2020). Effects of COVID-19 on college students’ mental health in the United States: Interview survey study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(9), 1–14.CrossRef

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association (2019a). 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Table 6.21B--Types of illicit drug, tobacco product, and alcohol use in past month among persons aged 18 to 22, by college enrollment status and gender: Percentages, 2018 and 2019.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2019b). Substance misuse prevention. for young adults. Publication No. PEP19-PL-Guide-1. Rockville, MD: National Mental Health and Substance Use Policy Laboratory. Retrieved from https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/d7/priv/pep19-pl-guide-1.pdf. Retreived June 1, 2020 from [website]

Trammell, J. P., Joseph, N. T., & Harriger, J. A. (2021). Racial and ethnic minority disparities in COVID-19 related health, health beliefs and behaviors, and well-being among students. Journal of American College Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2021.1890606CrossRef

van Loo, H. M., & Romeijn, J. W. (2015). Psychiatric comorbidity: Fact or artifact? Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, 36(1), 41–60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11017-015-9321-0CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Vermunt, J. K. (2010). Latent class modeling with covariates: Two improved three-step approaches. Political Analysis, 18(4), 450–469. https://doi.org/10.1093/pan/mpq025CrossRef

Villarosa-Hurlocker, M. C., & Madson, M. B. (2020). A latent profile analysis of social anxiety and alcohol use among college students. Addictive Behaviors, 104(019), 106284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2019.106284CrossRefPubMed

Welsh, J. W., Shentu, Y., & Sarvey, D. B. (2019). Substance use among college students. Focus, 17(2), 117–127. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.focus.20180037CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Woon, L. S. C., Leong Bin Abdullah, M. F. I., Sidi, H., Mansor, N. S., & Nik Jaafar, N. R. (2021). Depression, anxiety, and the COVID-19 pandemic: Severity of symptoms and associated factors among university students after the end of the movement lockdown. PLoS ONE, 16(5 may), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252481CrossRef

Wu, I. H. C., Bathje, G. J., Kalibatseva, Z., Sung, D. H., Leong, F. T. L., & Collins-Eaglin, J. (2017). Stigma, mental health, and counseling service use: A person-centered approach to mental health stigma profiles. Psychological Services, 14(4), 490–501. https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000165CrossRefPubMed

Title: Mental Health Risk Profiles and Related Substance Use During Coronavirus Pandemic Among College Students Who Use Substances
Authors: Margo Hurlocker
Michael B. Madson
P. Priscilla Lui
Robert Dvorak
Lindsay S. Ham
Thad Leffingwell
Alison Looby
Ellen Meier
Kevin Montes
Lucy E. Napper
Mark A. Prince
Monica Skewes
Byron L. Zamboanga
Harm Reduction Research Team
Publication date: 19-04-2022
Publisher: Springer US
Keywords: Coronavirus
COVID-19
Published in: International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction / Issue 6/2023
Print ISSN: 1557-1874
Electronic ISSN: 1557-1882
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-022-00813-1

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Mental Health Risk Profiles and Related Substance Use During Coronavirus Pandemic Among College Students Who Use Substances

Abstract

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 6/2023

Virtual Reality to Support Inpatient Addiction Treatment: Patients Are Ready, What About Therapists? A Feasibility Study

Limited Access to Emotion Regulation Strategies Mediates the Association Between Positive Urgency and Sustained Binge Drinking in Patients with Alcohol Use Disorder

Childhood Maltreatment Affects Mobile Phone Addiction from the Perspective of Attachment Theory

Mediating Factors of a Brazilian School-Based Drug Prevention Program

Interactive Effects of Problem-Gambling Severity, Gender and Alcohol Consumption on Electronic Gaming Machine Behaviour

Using Online Gambling Disorder Questionnaire (OGD-Q) with Adults: Factor Structure, Reliability, External Validity, and Measurement Invariance Across Age and Gender