Ethnicity or ethnic identity is not some immutable sense of one’s identity but rather something produced through the performance of socially and culturally determined boundaries . Hence, individuals are not passive recipients of acquired cultures but instead active agents who constantly construct and negotiate their ethnic identities within given social structural conditions . In spite of these sociological contributions, which have enriched our understanding of identity generally and ethnicity specifically, the alcohol and drugs fields have not adequately integrated these perspectives, thwarting our ability to understand the relationships between ethnicity and substance use. As such, the field is ripe with correlations between ethnic group categories and substance use problems, resulting in solutions to problems that focus on reifying questionable social group categorizations and revealing little about how drugs are connected to identities and shaped by broader social and cultural structures. It is important to note that we do not intend to argue that existing categories of ethnicity be disregarded in the alcohol and drugs fields. As Krieger and colleagues have noted in another context , surveillance data documenting health disparities, in our case in substance use, are exceedingly important in terms of identifying potential inequities in health. However, without understanding the complexity of ethnic identity and its relationship to substance use, these surveillance data may perpetuate stereotypes and the victimization of specific socially-delineated ethnic groupings, obfuscate the root causes of substance use and elated problems, and reify politicized categories of ethnicity which may have little meaning for the people populating those categories. While acknowledging that socially-deliented ethnic categories are important for documenting social injustices,marijuana grow system we must also be vigilant about questioning the appropriateness of those categories . Conceptually this type of critical approach is important for considering how substance use is related to negotiations of ethnicity over time and place and bounded by structure.
Maintaining a static and homogenous approach towards ethnic categorizations in the alcohol and drugs fields presents at least two problems. First, it risks overlooking how drugs and alcohol play into a person’s negotiation of identity, particularly ethnic identity, thus revealing little about the pathways that lead to substance use. Cultural researchers have long emphasized the importance of commodity consumption in the construction of identities and lifestyles , particularly within youth cultures , and how it can be an important factor in demarcating and constituting social group boundaries . A limited body of research in the alcohol and drugs field has emphasized the role of substance use in constructing and performing identities , particularly ethnic identities , uncovering how subgroups within traditionally-defined ethnic minority categories use drugs and alcohol to distinguish themselves from ethnically similar others. For example, in a qualitative study of Asian American youth in the San Francisco Bay area in the US, narratives illustrated how youths’ drug use and drug using practices were a way of constructing an identity which differentiated them from “other Asian” youth groups, specifically allowing them to construct an alternative ethnic identity that set them apart from the “model minority” stereotype . Thus taste cultures and consumption-oriented distinctions highlight the continuing salience of and interconnections not just between substance use and changing notions of ethnicity but also between substance use, class and ethnicity. Ethnic identity gets translated into social captial which in turn has ramifications for one’s economic and social standing . Second, failing to critically appraise our use of fixed and homogenous ethnicity categories in the alcohol and drugs fields jeopardizes our ability to identify the broader social and structural determinants of alcohol and drug use and related problems—like poverty, social exclusion, and discrimination—which are crucial issues for addressing social injustices. So often studies revealing correlations between ethnic categories and substance use related problems result in discussions about the importance of developing culturally-appropriate prevention and treatment interventions, overlooking the structural conditions that adversely affect socially-defined ethnic groupings and may result in some form of engagement with alcohol and/or drugs. For example, research on street cultures, where ethnic identifications and drugs play a central part, illustrates how some ethnic minority youth use and/or sell drugs to actively construct counter-images or ethnically-infused street cultures of resistance within their neighborhoods, which some researchers have called “neighborhood nationalism” , as a way of resisting or transcending “inferior images” ascribed to them by the wider society . These street cultures provide alternative definitions of self-identity, especially for young men, who live in communities marked by poverty and marginalization and who have little access to masculine status in the formal economy .
Such cases clearly show how drug use and sales is not the fault of the individual or a deficiency resulting from one’s ethnicity, but instead from a deficiency in society. The COVID-19 pandemic has produced major disruptions in daily life. A recent review concluded that the world population is experiencing increased stress, anxiety, and depression due to the pandemic and associated mitigation measures . In late June 2020, 40% of U.S. adults reported experiencing mental health symptoms, a stress disorder, or increasing substance use to cope with pandemic-related stress . Individuals with problematic substance use are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 illness and psychosocial effects of the pandemic, such as stress and substance use treatment disruptions . Disruptions in treatment increase risk of overdose, a serious complication of substance use disorders . Moreover, depression and anxiety commonly co-occur with substance use disorders . Evidence suggests that in the general population, increases in alcohol consumption during COVID-19 may be driven by stress, depression, and anxiety . Effects may be even more pronounced among individuals with problematic substance use. Periods of intense stress can give light to pre-existing fissures and vulnerabilities in people’s daily lives. A better understanding of substance use problems, depressive symptoms, and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic among people with problematic substance use can inform intervention efforts needed now and post-pandemic. Various pandemic-related situational factors may differentially affect substance use problems . According to behavioral economics, the COVID- 19 pandemic and associated mitigation measures may decrease the negative consequences of substance use . Many individuals are now working from home and have a more flexible schedule, making some of the negative consequences of substance use less relevant than before the pandemic. Simultaneously, the pandemic has limited the availability of alternative rewarding activities that are incompatible with substance use . Substance use and associated problems may increase if individuals are home more often and unable to engage in their usual activities, especially in the evenings . Moreover, other responsibilities at home may have increased during the pandemic.
New consequences associated with substance use may emerge as lifestyles, schedules, and responsibilities shift. In sum, relationships between pandemic-related lifestyle factors, substance use,cannabis vertical farming and substance use problems are likely complex and multifaceted. To better understand how individuals with problematic substance use are experiencing the pandemic, this exploratory, cross-sectional study examined associations between substance use problems, mental health symptoms, and pandemic related increased family responsibilities and stressors. Participants were recruited June 25 to August 18, 2020 for a randomized controlled trial of Woebot for Substance Use Disorders, a novel digital therapeutic for reducing problematic substance use. Participants were recruited through Qualtrics Research Services, Stanford University listservs, a Facebook advertising campaign, and word-of-mouth. Eligibility criteria were U.S. residence, age 18-65, English literate, owning a smart phone, with past-year use of a substance, and problematic substance use . Exclusion criteria were history of severe alcohol or drug withdrawal, liver conditions, opioid overdose, or psychotic symptoms; past-year suicide attempt; past-year medical problems from drug or alcohol use; opioid use without concurrent medication-assisted treatment; past Woebot use; and pregnancy. The study protocol, approved by Stanford IRB, randomized consented participants to the Woebot for Substance Use Disorders intervention for 8 weeks or to a waitlist control condition. Only baseline measures, completed prior to randomization, were analyzed in the present study. Participants received a $25 Amazon gift card for completing the baseline survey. Correlations between substance use problems, pandemic impacts and behaviors, and mental health symptoms are presented in Table 1. Significant correlations indicated that participants who, during COVID-19, struggled with responsibilities at home, had greater mental health impacts, greater personal growth, frequented bars or large gatherings, and reported more depression and anxiety symptoms had higher SIP-AD scores. Participants who, during COVID- 19, struggled with responsibilities at home, had difficulty getting necessities, had greater mental health impacts, and worried more about their children had higher GAD-7 and PHQ-8 scores. Anxiety and depression scores were highly correlated. Participants who lost a job or income during the pandemic had higher PHQ-8 scores. Struggling with home responsibilities was associated with job or income loss, greater difficulty getting necessities, greater pandemic mental health impacts, less personal growth during the pandemic, avoiding large gatherings, and avoiding school or work. Difficulty getting necessities was associated with greater mental health impacts. Personal growth was associated with lower likelihood of avoiding large gatherings, and worrying about one’s children was associated with greater likelihood of avoiding non-essential travel. The COVID-19 precautions were significantly associated with each other. Multi-variable analyses are presented in Table 2.
Participants with greater pandemic related mental health effects had higher SIP-AD, PHQ-8, and GAD-7 scores. Younger participants had higher SIP-AD scores, and participants without a college degree had higher GAD-7 scores . Age was not associated with GAD-7 or PHQ-8 scores, and education was not associated with SIP-AD or PHQ-8 scores. Sex, race/ethnicity, marital status, and other pandemic-related variables were not associated with SIPAD, GAD-7, or PHQ-8 scores. Because only participants with children completed the “worries about children” measure, we repeated the GAD-7 and PHQ-8 models excluding this variable. In the full sample, females had higher GAD-7 scores than males . Otherwise, only pandemic-related mental health effects remained associated with GAD-7 and PHQ-8 scores. During the COVID-19 pandemic, 40.6% of surveyed adults with substance use problems reported struggling with responsibilities at home. Struggling with responsibilities at home during the pandemic was associated with more substance use problems and greater depression and anxiety symptoms. Obtaining, using, and recovering from substances can impair one’s ability to fulfill obligations. New responsibilities resulting from the pandemic, such as full-time childcare due to school closures, may be difficult to fulfill while struggling with substance use. Results are consistent with extant literature showing that unpaid caregiving during COVID-19 was associated with increased substance use . Individuals struggling with substance use, anxiety, and depression may need support in meeting their own needs as well as their family’s needs during the pandemic. Additionally, frequenting bars or large gatherings, experiencing negative mental health effects, and perceiving more positive personal growth from the pandemic were associated with more substance use problems. Difficulty getting necessities, experiencing more negative mental health effects, and greater worry about one’s children’s well-being was associated with greater depression and anxiety symptoms. In multivariable models, controlling for demographic characteristics, negative mental health effects of the pandemic were the strongest correlate of substance use problems, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. Participants with high scores on this measure reported frequently thinking about COVID-19, worrying about their health and/or the health of their family and friends, experiencing stress due to changes in social contacts and their lifestyles, worsening of their mental/emotional health, and sleep disruptions. Findings suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic is producing major concerns that may contribute to mental health symptoms, including problematic substance use. Many individuals are using substances to cope with stress and uncertainty around the pandemic . A nationally representative sample of U.S. adults conducted early in the pandemic identified increased risk of depressive symptoms among people with lower income, fewer savings, and more stressors.While some evidence suggests that pandemic-induced psychological distress is lessening in the United States , people with problematic substance use are vulnerable to the negative effects of the pandemic . In this study, participants with more substance use problems were less likely to avoid bars and large gatherings, corroborating concerns that substance use may increase risk of contracting COVID-19 . Participants struggling to control their substance use may have found it difficult to avoid settings in which they use. Paradoxically, individuals with greater substance use problems also perceived greater personal growth from the pandemic in the forms of strengthened relationships, new possibilities, awareness of personal strength, spiritual change, and increased appreciation of life. People with problematic substance use often experience intense emotions .