class: title-slide <div class="title-whole"> <div class="colleft"> <img class="background" src="assets/title-image.jpg"></td> </div> <div class="colright"> <div class="row1"> <span> <h1>Mental health and alcohol use in young Australians during COVID-19</h1> <br> <h2>Philip J Clare</h2> <h3>Prevention Research Collaboration</h3> <span class="img-container"> <img src="assets/logo.jpg"> </span> </span> </div> <div class="row2"> <span> <h4>© Philip Clare 2021</h4> </span> </div> </div> </div> --- # Contents 1. APSALS Cohort 1. Background 1. This study 1. Results 1. Conclusions --- class: red-section # 1. APSALS Cohort --- # 1. APSALS Cohort <b>Created by:</b> Laura Vogl and Richard Mattick <b>CIs and AIs:</b> Raimondo Bruno, Louisa Degenhardt, John Horwood, Delyse Hutchinson, Kypros Kypri, Richard Mattick, Nyanda McBride, Jim McCambridge, Jake Najman, Amy Peacock, Tim Slade, Monika Wadolowski, Alexandra Aiken, Philip Clare, Tim Dobbins <b>Current/Past NDARC team:</b> Wing See Yuen, Clara de Torres, Emily Upton, Cooper Jackson, Brittany Corkish, Veronica Boland <b>Funding:</b> ARC, Australian Rotary Health, FARE, NHMRC --- # 1. APSALS Cohort - Longitudinal project assessing parental and other sources of supply - Controlling for the known predictors of adolescent drinking - 1927 adolescent/parent dyads recruited in NSW, TAS, WA in September 2010 - First captured in Grade 7 aged ~13 years - From 49 schools (government - 39%, independent - 49%, catholic - 12%) - Adolescent sex - 45% female - Assessed annually on-line or paper - Parents surveyed until Wave 5 --- class: red-section # 2. Background --- # 2. Background - Mixed hypotheses about impact on alcohol - Possible declines due to restrictions. - Possible increases due to financial/psychological distress, known risk factors of alcohol consumption - Concern about potential negative impacts on mental health - Cross-sectional studies show elevated depression, anxiety and stress amongst young adults during the pandemic - However, little longitudinal research, and most of it from the USA --- class: red-section # 3. This study --- # 3. This study - Extra survey conducted in mid 2020, in addition to the main APSALS study waves. .center[ ] --- # 3. This study - All participants who had completed APSALS Wave 10 up to April 30 (n=813) and had providewere invited to participate - n=443 participants completed the COVID survey (54% response rate; 23% of the total sample). --- # 3. This study .center[ ] --- # 3. This study - Survey included a range of questions from the regular survey, adjusted to ‘past month’ rather than ‘past year’ - Alcohol use - Alcohol-related harm - Mental Health - Use of mental health/addiction services - Also included questions about their experiences during the pandemic/lockdown --- class: red-section # 4. Results --- # 4. Results - Sample .center[ ] --- # 4. Results – Experience during restrictions - There was relatively little concern about the COVID-19 disease itself - 17% of the sample said they were at least moderately worried about contracting the disease - This is perhaps unsurprising – at the time of the survey: - only 6% of the sample had been tested for COVID-19 - only 1 respondent had received a positive COVID-19 test result, and had fully recovered. --- # 4. Results – Experience during restrictions - Secondary impacts of the pandemic were more common - 74% reported they had been or were currently in voluntary isolation - The use of precautions were common .center[ ] --- # 4. Results – Experience during restrictions - Housing difficulties were relatively rare - <5% had housing difficulties - 10% of the sample had moved in with family or their partner - 20% of the sample reported financial stress .center[ ] --- # 4. Results – Alcohol consumption <table> <td> Frequency of consumption .center[ ] </td> <td> Typical quantity consumed .center[ ] </td> </table> --- # 4. Results – Alcohol consumption <table> <td> Binge drinking .center[ ] </td> <td> Overall consumption .center[ ] </td> </table> --- # 4. Results – Alcohol consumption Change in drinking context .center[ ] --- # 4. Results – Alcohol-related harms .center[ ] --- # 4. Results – Self-reported impact of COVID-19 .center[ ] --- # 4. Results – Mental health <table> <td> PHQ-9 Score .center[ ] </td> <td> GAD-7 Score .center[ ] </td> </table> --- # 4. Results – Mental health <table> <td> Likely depressive disorder (PHQ-9) .center[ ] </td> <td> Likely GAD (GAD-7) .center[ ] </td> </table> --- # 4. Results – Mental health Help seeking for mental health .center[ ] --- # 4. Results – Self-help behaviours .center[ ] --- class: red-section # 5. Conclusions --- # 5. Conclusions - Alcohol consumption declined, continuing a trend that began before the pandemic - This appeared driven by quantity, with no change in frequency of alcohol consumption, but declines in typical quantity consumed, and binge drinking - Unsurprisingly, there was a sharp decline in drinking with others in person, but this was large matched by increases in drinking with others virtually and drinking alone - There was a decline in the rate of alcohol-related harms - These may be related, as drinking at home is likely to reduce the risk of acute harms such as traffic accidents and fighting --- # 5. Conclusions - Increases in depression and anxiety symptoms - Changes were less severe than in some other countries - Possibly due to the relatively low impact of COVID-19 in Australia - No change in help seeking - While the Australian Government introduced initiatives to improve access to mental health support, there may have been a lag in uptake, and barriers such as cost may have remained - Results for both alcohol and mental health were consistent by gender - Although women generally showed higher rates of depression/anxiety, there was no gender difference in change due to the restrictions --- # 5. Strengths and Weaknesses - One of the few studies investigating impact of COVID-19 prospectively - Self-selected sample > but similar to population - Only covered relatively ‘early’ stages of the pandemic – May-June 2020 - May not generalize beyond the Australian context - Mental health was self-report not clinical interview --- # References .center[ ] --- # References .center[ ]