Cannabis use in Dutch adolescents: An evaluation of changes before and after the first lockdown.

Abstract

On March 17, 2020, the Netherlands went into the first COVID-19 lockdown, which had a major impact on the life of Dutch adolescents. Since then, several alarming reports came out, saying that Dutch adolescents were coping with more mental distress. Meanwhile, researchers noticed changes in substance use, possibly to cope with this distress. This current research aimed to investigate if cannabis use has changed during the first lockdown in Dutch middle schoolers, and if certain factors, e.g., level of self-control, time spend with friends, perceived parental monitoring, and perceived descriptive norms, at T1 (Jan-2020) were predictive of lifetime cannabis use at T2 (Jan-2022). The study is a two waved longitudinal study, with a sample size of 404 high schoolers aged 12-17 from a Dutch municipality. The study found that cannabis use increased during the first lockdown. Adolescents with a lower level of self-control or who spent more time with friends at T1 had an increased risk of lifetime cannabis use at T2. These results provide new insights into how prevention makers might reduce adolescent cannabis use through self-control, parental monitoring and supervised leisure activities. Importantly, it also emphasizes the importance to keep an eye on adolescents during times of crisis.