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The COVID-19 pandemic influenced individuals' anxiety and depression across the United States over a short period, and some Americans relied on drugs for coping. This study examines American adults' drug use trajectories in response to changing anxiety and depression levels during the COVID-19 pandemic and the moderating role of substance use disorder (SUD) services provided by non-profit facilities in anxiety/depression-induced drug use. Heterogeneity in such relationships is further explored based on race/ethnicity. This study used a nationally representative sample of 1,176 American adults who reported drug use between May 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021. Using individual-fixed effects Poisson estimators, the current study empirically modeled drug use changes according to changing anxiety/depression levels. Interaction terms between anxiety/depression levels and per capita spending by non-profit SUD facilities were used to explore the moderating effect of SUD service expenditures. Racial/ethnic disparities were explored in subgroup analyses on non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic Asian samples. We found more frequent drug use in response to elevated anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. Greater spending on SUD service by non-profit facilities at the county level was associated with reduced drug consumption associated with anxiety and depression, with greater benefits for racial/ethnic minorities. Findings provide important policy implications for distributing public funds for non-profit SUD facilities for mitigating SUD risks, especially among racial/ethnic minorities., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The present study examines whether people respond heterogeneously to statewide social distancing mandates as a function of factors that proxy for health risk, economic insecurity, and media consumption. Using longitudinal data of 7400 American adults between March 10 and June 23, 2020, the study examines social-distancing and mask-wearing behaviors. We use a staggered difference-in-difference model to explore whether state policies lead to preventive behaviors. We further examine heterogeneity in individual responses to state mandates by including interaction terms with health risk, economic insecurity, and media consumption. The study finds that state policies lead to increased adoption of these behaviors. Our findings also suggest that old age and living with the elderly are key predictors of preventive behavior adoption in the presence or even absence of state mandates. However, the economically insecure, such as the unemployed, those with low incomes and net worth, or without health insurance, are less likely to adopt preventive behaviors regardless of the mandates. The adoption of the behaviors is also polarized between CNN users and Fox News/Social Media users, with greater compliance by the former., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The year 2020 provided a rare opportunity to examine how US households experience economic hardship when natural disasters occur during a large‐scale public health crisis, such as the COVID‐19 pandemic. Using a nationally representative sample of adults, this study examines the effect of natural disasters on household economic hardships during a pandemic, measured by food insecurity, mortgage or rent delinquency, and unemployment. The study estimated individual fixed‐effect models after controlling for time trends and time‐variant covariates. We find that while a disaster incident in the community during a pandemic is not associated with household economic hardships in aggregate, its effects are experienced differently by people according to the community‐level severity of COVID‐19 and the individual‐level factors characterized as vulnerability and resilience. Our findings have implications for targeted disaster relief and for building resilience among residents to adverse events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]