Young Adults with Childhood Adversity and Low Resilience Increased Marijuana Use During COVID-19
Among 1,084 young adults tracked before and during COVID-19, marijuana use frequency increased for 27% of participants, with adverse childhood experiences predicting increases among those with low resilience.
Quick Facts
What This Study Found
49.4% used marijuana at either timepoint, with 27.2% increasing and 21.2% decreasing frequency during COVID-19. Among those with low resilience, greater childhood adversity predicted marijuana increases. Greater depression predicted alcohol and e-cigarette increases.
Key Numbers
1,084 participants. Marijuana: 49.4% used, 27.2% increased, 21.2% decreased. ACEs predicted marijuana increases among low-resilience participants. Depression predicted alcohol and e-cigarette increases. Alcohol: 84.8% used, 32.9% increased.
How They Did This
Longitudinal analysis using Wave 3 (pre-COVID, Sept-Dec 2019) and Wave 4 (during COVID, March-May 2020) from the VAPES study of young adults across six US metropolitan areas. 1,084 participants, mean age 24.8, 51.8% female, 73.6% White.
Why This Research Matters
The COVID-19 pandemic created a natural experiment for understanding how societal stress affects substance use. The finding that resilience moderates the impact of childhood adversity on marijuana use points to specific intervention targets.
The Bigger Picture
The finding that resilience buffers the ACEs-marijuana link has practical implications: resilience-building interventions during periods of societal stress could protect vulnerable young adults from escalating substance use.
What This Study Doesn't Tell Us
Two-wave comparison captures only early COVID-19 (March-May 2020). Self-reported substance use. The sample overrepresents White participants. The observational design cannot confirm causal relationships between ACEs, resilience, and substance use changes.
Questions This Raises
- ?Did marijuana use changes persist as the pandemic continued?
- ?Would resilience-building interventions launched during crises reduce substance use escalation?
- ?Are the ACEs-marijuana-resilience interactions specific to pandemics or generalizable to other stressors?
Trust & Context
- Key Stat:
- ACEs predicted marijuana increases only among young adults with low resilience
- Evidence Grade:
- Moderate: longitudinal design capturing pre/during COVID changes, though limited to early pandemic period.
- Study Age:
- Published in 2022, covering 2019-2020.
- Original Title:
- Changes in young adult substance use during COVID-19 as a function of ACEs, depression, prior substance use and resilience.
- Published In:
- Substance abuse, 43(1), 212-221 (2022)
- Authors:
- Romm, Katelyn F(14), Patterson, Brooke, Crawford, Natalie D, Posner, Heather, West, Carly D, Wedding, DeEnna, Horn, Kimberly, Berg, Carla J
- Database ID:
- RTHC-04180
Evidence Hierarchy
Follows a group of people over time to track how outcomes develop.
What do these levels mean? →Frequently Asked Questions
Did COVID-19 increase marijuana use?
Among young adults in this study, 27% increased marijuana use frequency during early COVID-19, while 21% decreased. The net shift was toward more use, particularly among those with childhood adversity and low psychological resilience.
What protected against increased use during COVID?
Resilience was a key protective factor. Among young adults with childhood adversity, those with higher resilience were less likely to increase marijuana use, suggesting resilience-building could buffer against stress-driven substance use.
Read More on RethinkTHC
Cite This Study
https://rethinkthc.com/research/RTHC-04180APA
Romm, Katelyn F; Patterson, Brooke; Crawford, Natalie D; Posner, Heather; West, Carly D; Wedding, DeEnna; Horn, Kimberly; Berg, Carla J. (2022). Changes in young adult substance use during COVID-19 as a function of ACEs, depression, prior substance use and resilience.. Substance abuse, 43(1), 212-221. https://doi.org/10.1080/08897077.2021.1930629
MLA
Romm, Katelyn F, et al. "Changes in young adult substance use during COVID-19 as a function of ACEs, depression, prior substance use and resilience.." Substance abuse, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/08897077.2021.1930629
RethinkTHC
RethinkTHC Research Database. "Changes in young adult substance use during COVID-19 as a fu..." RTHC-04180. Retrieved from https://rethinkthc.com/research/romm-2022-changes-in-young-adult
Access the Original Study
Study data sourced from PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
This study breakdown was produced by the RethinkTHC research team. We analyze and report published research findings without making health recommendations. All interpretations are based solely on the published abstract and study data.