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Adverse life events that threaten normative transitions are associated with increased alcohol and cannabis use among young adults. However, few studies have tested the extent to which specific negative events impact substance use behaviors nor identified relevant risk or protective factors (e.g., perceived control). During the COVID-19 pandemic, young adults experienced economic adversities (i.e., job loss and financial strain) at disproportionally high rates. This provided a unique opportunity to test associations between job loss/financial difficulties and substance use outcomes and whether perceived control in work and finance domains moderated these associations. Young adults completed self-report surveys at two time points−prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2020) and in the acute phase of the pandemic (April/May 2020). Participants (N = 519; Mage = 25.4 years; 62.8% female) were recruited in and around Seattle, WA, as part of an ongoing longitudinal cohort study. Pandemic-related job loss (18.9%) and financial difficulty (49.7%) were relatively common in this sample. Job loss was associated with increased number of drinks on the heaviest past-month drinking occasion (from January 2020 to April/May 2020). Financial difficulty was associated with increased drinking frequency and number of drinks on the heaviest drinking occasion. The effect of job loss and financial difficulty on alcohol and cannabis use was generally moderated by participants' perceived control of these domains. For those with low perceived control, job loss/financial difficulty was associated with increased alcohol/cannabis use, but for those high in perceived control, job loss/financial difficulty was associated with decreased alcohol use frequency. Findings give advance understanding of how economic adversities relate to young adults' alcohol and cannabis use. Notably, perceived control over these domains may be modifiable through prevention efforts aiming to foster self-efficacy among young people and policy to provide available agency to those in need. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Cannabis has been promoted as an alternative to opioids for pain management. • This study examined associations of cannabis use with non-medical pain reliever misuse onset among young adults. • Non-medical and medical cannabis use was associated with increased risk of non-medical pain reliever misuse onset. • Cannabis use may not be protective against pain reliever misuse and related harms. Little is known about the prospective relationship between cannabis use and pain reliever misuse. This study examined associations of non-medical and medical cannabis use with onset of non-medical pain reliever misuse among young adults in Washington State (WA), where non-medical cannabis is legal. Data were from a cohort-sequential study of adults 18–25 residing in WA. Four annual surveys were used from cohorts recruited in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Participants who had not reported non-medical pain reliever misuse at baseline were included in discrete time survival analyses (N = 4,236). Odds ratios (ORs) were estimated for new onset of non-medical pain reliever misuse in any given follow-up year over the course of three years according to baseline non-medical and medical cannabis use. When included separately in models, non-medical and medical cannabis use at baseline were associated with increased risk of non-medical pain reliever misuse adjusting for demographic characteristics as well as past year cigarette use and alcohol use (non-medical OR = 5.27; 95 % CI: 3.28, 8.48; medical OR = 2.21; 95 % CI: 1.39, 3.52). Including both forms of use in the model, associations of non-medical and medical cannabis use with non-medical pain reliever misuse onset remained (non-medical OR = 4.64; 95 % CI: 2.88, 7.49; medical OR = 1.65; 95 % CI: 1.04, 2.62). Despite claims that cannabis use may reduce opioid use and related harms, findings suggest that cannabis use, including medical use, may not be protective, but instead may increase risk for non-medical pain reliever misuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies have shown associations between neighborhood disadvantage and alcohol misuse among adults. Less is known about the role of neighborhood context in young adults (YAs), who engage in more disordered forms of alcohol use compared to other age groups. Using data collected monthly, this study examined whether YAs reported more alcohol use and consequences when they were living in neighborhoods with greater concentration of poverty.Method: This study used data from 746 participants aged 18-23 years living in the Seattle, WA, region. Surveys were administered each month for 24 consecutive months. Measures included typical number of drinks per week and past month count of alcohol-related consequences. Residential addresses at each month were geocoded and linked to census-tract level percentage of households living at or below poverty threshold. Multilevel over-dispersed Poisson models were used to estimate associations between standardized monthly deviations in tract-level poverty from one's average and alcohol outcomes.Results: Across 14,247 monthly observations, the mean number of typical drinks per week was 4.8 (SD = 7.4) and the mean number of alcohol consequences was 2.1 (SD = 3.5). On months when they were living in neighborhoods with higher levels of poverty than their average, participants reported significantly higher levels of alcohol consequences (Count Ratio = 1.05; p = .045).Conclusion: YAs may engage in more problematic forms of drinking when they reside in neighborhoods with higher levels of disadvantage. During a time of frequent residential changes, YAs moving to more disadvantaged neighborhoods may benefit from additional supports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]