RT Journal Article
T1 Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Evolution of Prevalence and Patterns of Cannabis Use among First-Year University Students in Spain—UniHcos Project
A1 Botella Juan, Lorena
A1 Alguacil Ojeda, Juan
A1 Fernández Villa, Tania
AB Among university students there has been evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic increasedtheir psychological distress, exacerbated by social restrictions. The main objective of this study was toexplore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence and patterns of cannabis use amonguniversity students, in contrast to previous trends since 2012. Data from 10,522 first-year universitystudents (73.3% female, Mage 19 (SD = 1.6)) from eleven Spanish universities collected between 2012andMay 2022 was analysed. Prevalences of cannabis use and their differences by sex were studied, aswell as changes in patterns of use and its use for coping during the pandemic. It was found that duringlockdown, all prevalence rates of cannabis use decreased in both sexes, showing no statistically significantdifferences and increasing again in the new normal period in both. Among regular cannabis users, 79.7%reportedmaintaining or increasing their cannabis use during the pandemic, and of these, half reportedusing cannabis to cope. Moreover, cannabis use in the usual household increased during the lockdown.These results showthat although the overall prevalence of cannabis use was reduced during the lockdown,regular users tended tomaintain or increase cannabis use. This could imply two different patterns of useamong students, one social and occasional versus the other regular, providing new lines of research forprevention and the implementation of social policies.
PB MDPI
SN 1661-7827
SN 1660-4601 (electrónico)
YR 2022
FD 2022
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10272/21673
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10272/21673
LA eng
NO Botella-Juan, L., Amezcua-Prieto, C., Morales-Suarez-Varela, M. M., Mateos-Campos, R., Ayán-Pérez, C., Molina, A. J., Ortiz-Moncada, R., Redondo-Martín, S., Alguacil, J., Blázquez-Abellán, G., Delgado-Rodríguez, M., Alonso-Molero, J., & Fernández-Villa, T. (2022). Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Evolution of Prevalence and Patterns of Cannabis Use among First-Year University Students in Spain—UniHcos Project. In International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (Vol. 19, Issue 18, p. 11577). MDPI AG. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191811577
NO This research was funded by the National Drug Plan from the Ministry of Health, SocialServices and Equality of Spain (Grant numbers: 2010|145, 2013|034 and 2020|030) and Instituto deSalud Carlos III (Grant number: PI16/01947).
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 30 may 2026