In a nationwide, sociodemographically diverse, prospective longitudinal sample of U.S. youth in early adolescence (N = 7,842), substance use remained stable in prevalence over the first 6 months since COVID-19 stay-at-home orders were first issued in the U.S.; was primarily episodic (1–2 days in the past month) versus regular; and was typically limited to a single substance. Using two different designs, we found that relative to before the pandemic, fewer youth were using alcohol, and more were using nicotine or misusing prescription drugs—the overall prevalence of substance use did not change significantly. Relative stability in the overall rate of substance use in this cohort is reassuring given that the pandemic has brought increases in teens' unoccupied time, stress, and loneliness [35], reduced access to support services [36], and disruptions to routines and family/parenting practices [18], all of which might be expected to have markedly increased youth substance use [7]. The impact of these changes on the rate of alcohol/drug use may have been offset by other pandemic-related changes expected to reduce use (e.g., reduced contact with friends).
