Date of Completion

5-5-2023

Degree Type

Honors Thesis - Campus Access

Discipline

Psychology (PSYC)

First Advisor

Joseph W. LaBrie

Second Advisor

Reed M. Morgan

Third Advisor

Bradley M. Trager

Abstract

Previous literature has indicated that senior year of high school is a critical period for learning substance use behaviors that students eventually bring into college. Studies have shown that COVID-19 pandemic was marked by changes in mental health and sex differences in substance use consumption, particularly in adolescents and young adults entering college. The current study aimed to examine these changes by observing differences in two cohorts of first-year undergraduate students prior to their college matriculation. The sample included 777 students recruited by email in August of 2020 (n = 386) and July of 2021 (n = 391), with a mean age of 18 years old (M = 17.95, SD = .41). Zero-order correlations and univariate analyses of variance were used to assess the main and interaction effects of cohort and sex on alcohol-related consequences, weekly drinking, depression, anxiety, marijuana use, and simultaneous alcohol and marijuana use. Results revealed cohort differences in the experience of alcohol-related consequences—but not weekly drinking—between first-years in 2020 and 2021, with 2021 students experiencing greater consequences. Sex differences in the sample were strong, with females scoring significantly higher than males in depression and anxiety, frequency of consequences experienced, and simultaneous use of alcohol and marijuana. Interactions between sex and cohort were found for consequences (2021 females experienced more consequences than males in the same year and both sexes in 2020) and marijuana (2020 females consumed marijuana more than 2020 males, but 2021 males consumed more than 2021 females). Together, these findings support continued exploration into sex differences in mental health and substance use consumption, as well as investigation of shifts in contexts of substance use in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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