Youth in families who experienced loss of income or material hardship during the pandemic were more likely to use substances, as were youth whose parents were unmarried or less educated. Also at elevated risk of use were youth with pre-existing externalizing/internalizing psychopathology [16] or whose parents drank alcohol more frequently or used nicotine/cannabis. Parental alcohol/drug use remained a significant predictor of youth use even when covarying parents' prepandemic use, so this effect may reflect pandemic-related escalations in use. These findings concord with existing evidence that the impact of the pandemic is concentrated among the most vulnerable families [18], with the effects of family stressors compounding.
