Knowledge is Power

TEEN SUBSTANCE USE REBOUNDS AFTER PANDEMIC BUT REMAINS BELOW PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS

Among high school seniors using marijuana, the Pandemic forced the largest one-year decline in use over the past 48 years. Marijuana use fell from 35.2 percent in 2020 to 30.5 percent during 2021. In 2022 it remained pretty much unchanged at 30.7 percent.

     Alcohol drinking among high school seniors fell from 55.3 percent of seniors in 2020 to 46.5 during the pandemic year. However, in 2022 alcohol use among seniors rebounded to 51.9 percent ---a statistically significant increase in alcohol use among high school seniors. It appears that the one-year decline in teen alcohol use during the Pandemic was fleeting and may have little long-term impact.

Vaping of Nicotine and Marijuana continues to be of concern. Prior to the Pandemic teen vaping was increasing at an alarming rate. For example, nicotine vaping among 12th graders jumped from 19 percent in 2017 to 35 percent in 2019. Marijuana vaping jumped from 10 percent in 2017 to 21 percent in 2019. For 2022 nicotine vaping among 8th grade students remained unchanged but increased slightly among 10th and 12th grade students.  Marijuana vaping  increased at all three grade levels. While 2022 vaping levels remain below the levels experienced prior to the Pandemic, they appear to have rebounded slightly since the Pandemic ended.     

     Marijuana use during 2022 increased slightly among students at all three grade levels (8th, 10th and 12th grades) but remains below pre-pandemic levels. During 2022, 8.3 percent of eighth graders, 19.5 percent of tenth graders and 30.7 percent of 12th graders reported using marijuana.

     Use of Inhalants, hallucinogens, cocaine, heroin and Vicodin all showed slight increases in 2022 over 2121. Non-prescribed use of both Ritalin and Adderall however increased at all three grade levels (8th, 10th and 12th grades). Non-prescribed use of Adderall increased among high school seniors from 1.8% in 2021 to 3.4% in 2022. Among 10th grade students Adderall use increased from 1.6% of students to nearly 3% if students.

     While Fentanyl use is not common among teens, the increase in overdose deaths suggest the drug is becoming more dangerous. Dr. Nora Vokow of the National Institute on Drug Abuse has said “It is absolutely crucial to educate young people that pills purchased via social media, given to someone by a friend or obtained from an unknown source may contain deadly fentanyl.

     Prescribed use of medications for ADHD rose significantly in 2022. The percentage of high school seniors who had using these drugs with a doctor’s prescription increased from 11 percent in 2021 to 15 percent in 2022. It’s possible that the need for ADHD treatment among teens increased during the Pandemic due to teens experiencing more stress. Another possibility is that teens sheltering at home during the Pandemic made parents more aware of their child’s attention issues which then resulted in parents seeking medical attention for their child.

Teen Mental Health Crisis Worsens During Pandemic

While the pandemic significantly curtailed teen illicit substance use, the same cannot be said about the mental health issues facing today’s youth. Both the United States Surgeon General’s Advisory on Protecting Youth Mental Health[1] and the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future[2] reports cite an alarming trend in teen mental health issues.

            Mental health challenges are nothing new for the teen population. Long before the COVID-19 pandemic the nation was in the midst of an alarming youth mental health crisis. Nearly 20 percent of children ages 3-17 reported having mental, emotional, developmental or behavioral disorders and nearly one-half of these children did not receive adequate treatment.

            National surveys continue to show increases in teen mental health issues. For example, from 2009 to 2019 there was a 40 percent increase in high school students reporting persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness and those teens seriously considering attempting suicide increased by 36 percent. Sadly, between 2007 and 2018, suicide rates among youth ages 10-24 increased by 57 percent.

            Mental health issues among teens varies across subpopulations. For example, girls are much more prone to be diagnosed with anxiety, depression or an eating disorder. Boys are more likely to die by suicide or be diagnosed with a behavioral disorder. The Surgeon General’s report noted, “In recent years, suicide rates among Black children (below age 13) have been increasing rapidly, with Black children nearly twice a likely to die by suicide than White children.”

            During most of the pandemic teens were confronted with unprecedented challenges. The pandemic dramatically changed their lives and the lives of their families. Children were pulled away from their classrooms, their friends and nearly all athletic and social events. Many were isolated at home struggling with on-line courses and interaction with peers was mostly limited to social media.

            Since the beginning of the pandemic adolescent depression, anxiety and many other mental health disorders increased. A recent study of 80,000 youth “found that depressive and anxiety symptoms doubled during the pandemic, with 25% of youth experiencing depressive symptoms and 20% experiencing anxiety symptoms.”

            Perhaps most alarming is clinical data that found “In early 2021, emergency department visits in the United States for suspected suicide attempts were 51% higher for adolescent girls and 4% higher for adolescent boys compared to the same time period in early 2019.”

            These findings are consistent with survey results obtained by the Monitoring the Future 2021 survey of youth. While the survey found a significant decrease in teen illicit substance use during 2021, teens reported increases in mental health issues since the pandemic began. Students in grades eight, ten and twelve all reported increases in various emotions. These included feeling anxious, angry, annoyed or irritable, feeling bored, sad, lonely, depressed, worried and experiencing sleep problems. They also reported difficulties being interested in normal activities and difficulties concentrating. Students reported significant increases for each of these mental health issues in all three grades.

            While the long-term impact of the pandemic on adolescent mental health is not yet fully understood, the Surgeon General’s report notes “there is some cause for optimism.” Over 50 years of research has shown us that while distress symptoms are common during disasters, “most people cope well and do not go on to develop mental health disorders.”