Evaluation of alcohol, substance and antidepressant drug use of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to investigate how the mental tension and environmental conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic affected the alcohol and substance use habits of university students and the changes in the rates of antidepressant drug use for mood disorders due to the pandemic.
Material and Method: This cross-sectional survey study was conducted using an electronic survey completed by university students in Turkey between the years 2021-2022. Our study consisted of a questionnaire prepared to collect the demographic information of the participants and the Bapirt-Alcohol/Substance scale used to determine alcohol/substance addiction level. The survey, which took 5 minutes to complete, was randomly distributed to university students.
Results: A total of 641 participants, approximately 66% female and 34% male, between the ages of 18 and 41 years were included in the study. The mean alcohol dependence scores before and during the COVID-19 pandemic were 0.91 and 1.35 and substance addiction scores were found to be 0.17 and 0.33. There was a significant difference in the average alcohol and substance addiction scores of the students during the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period (for alcohol addiction: p=0.000; for substance addiction: p=0.007). Students who perceived their income level as mostly low had significantly higher alcohol addiction scores during the pandemic period compared to pre-COVID-19 (p=0.014). Compared to the pre-pandemic period, the average alcohol and substance addiction scores were found to be significantly higher in students residing in dormitories/student houses during the pandemic period (p=0.014 for alcohol; p=0.001 for substances). Antidepressant drug use rates of the participants were found to be higher during the pandemic period compared to the pre-pandemic period.
Conclusion: As a result of this study, when the addiction levels for alcohol and substance use in university students before the COVID-19 pandemic and during the pandemic were compared, addiction increased in general. The prevalence of depression increased due to changing lifestyles and disruptions as a result of the pandemic, and accordingly, serious increases were observed in the use of antidepressant drugs.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• alcohol
• substance
• addiction
• antidepressant

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