Completion

Literature Review

Darielle Brooks

Department of Social Sciences, Allen University

SSC 416: SOCIAL RESEARCH

Dr. Thompson

March 5, 2022

COVID-19 DEATHS

· Psychological Distress

· Increased of alcohol and other substance use, abuse, and addiction.

Figure 1. Analytical Model within The Impact of COVID-19 on Alcohol and other Substance Use , Abuse and Addiction Among HBCU students.

Theory: The Covid-19 deaths have led to numerous psychological problems such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, stress, depression, and sadness, which have increased alcohol and other substance usage, abuse, and addiction among HBCU students.  

Question: With HBCU students losing their immediate family, mother, father, sister, brother, or grandparent to Covid-19, it has influenced significant psychological issues like anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, stress, depression, and sadness, increasing alcohol and other substance use, abuse, and addiction.              

Supporting Theory: The hypothesis for this study states that Covid-19 deaths increase the use of alcohol and other substance, abuse and addiction among the Historically Black Colleges and Universities students. The research expects that the Covid-19 deaths of the immediate family, mother, father, brother, sister, or grandparent each participant experiences will influence psychological disturbances, increasing alcohol and other substance use, abuse, and addiction. The study will use the Self-Medication Theory to confirm the hypothesis and support the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Self-Medication theory posits that individuals use alcohol and other substances as a coping strategy to address negative emotions, especially when a particular disaster happens (Nishith et al., 2022). In this sense, the theory will help show the link between the negative emotions associated with Covid-19 deaths and alcohol and other substance usages, abuse, and addiction increase.  

Independent Variable: Covid-19 Deaths

Dependent Variables: Psychological distress

                                  Increased of alcohol and other substance

Since its outbreak in 2019, Coronavirus has resulted in millions of deaths globally. According to the World Health Organization, over 5 million individuals have died so far with more than 200 million infections. These deaths led to profound psychological distress, resulting in other adverse implications such as increased alcohol intake and drug abuse. Virtually everyone felt these impacts, including Historically Black College and University (HBCU) students on campus. Several scholars have argued the relationship between Covid-19 deaths and increased alcohol and other substance use, abuse, and addiction. This section provides notable empirical studies related to the subject topic. 

The research about the link between alcohol and other substance abuse use, abuse, and addition first came into the limelight during the major pandemics in the 19th and 20th centuries when the world experienced significant disasters such as the world wars and the 2001 bomb attack in the United States. For instance, according to Esterwood and Saeed (2020), the 2001 bombing attack in the United States, where about 2,977 people lost their lives, terrified the country, leading to numerous and adverse psychological impacts such as anxiety, stress, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD). Consequently, many people indulged in alcohol and other substances like bhang, cocaine, and cigarettes to cope with negative emotions. In other words, individuals thought that drinking alcohol or taking other substances would help them suppress anxiety, stress, and depression. This particular trend has been visible across the major pandemics, and the Covid-19 health crisis has not been an exception.

From the 1980s to around 2002, Dr. Ed Khantzian developed the Self-Medication Theory, which has since enabled scholars and healthcare professionals to explain alcohol and drug use, abuse, and addiction from the psychological suffering viewpoint. According to Khantzian, individuals take alcohol and other drugs because of the need to fulfill a psychological need (Khantzian, 2018). The doctor added that there exists a close link between alcohol and drug addiction with an individual’s emotional status. When people suffer from specific mental health issues like anxiety or stress, they resort to alcohol and drug use, abuse, and addiction to address and cope with these negative emotions. Many scholars and experts have used the self-medication theory widely to explain the association between Covid-19 deaths and increased alcohol and other substance use, abuse, and addiction.

In research by Kilinc et al. (2022) about the Covid-19 deaths, psychological effects, and coping strategy during the pandemic, the findings revealed that Covid-19 deaths led to negative psychological consequences among children and young adults. As these groups lost their loved ones to the deadly virus, they became stressed, depressed, anxious, sad, and frustrated. In other words, Covid-19 deaths influenced psychological distress. Kilinc and colleagues further added that due to the psychological issues children and young adults experienced, they developed coping strategies, such as taking alcohol and drugs. They took these drugs to manage the negative emotions or feelings associated with losing their loved ones. 

Also, Nishith et al. (2022), in their study, “A test of self-medication hypothesis for drug use in homeless persons: The role of severe mental illness,” indicated that the link between Covid-19 deaths and increase of alcohol and other substance use, abuse, and addiction could be explained better using the Self-Medication Theory. According to Nishith and the company, there is a close relationship between mental illness and drug use. When individuals experience mental distress, they are likely to engage in drug use, abuse, and addiction as a coping strategy. The coping scheme focuses on addressing the negative emotions that often come with the psychological illness. This is as per the Self-Medication Theory. Khantzian (2018) defined Self-medication Theory as a model suggesting that individuals use alcohol and other substances as a coping strategy to address negative emotions, especially when a particular disaster has happened.

Smith et al. (2017) supported Nishith and colleagues’ findings in their survey, exploring the link between substance use and mental health status. In this investigation, the authors claimed that severe mental health situations influence substance initiation and consumption among individuals. Using the Self-Medication Theory, Smith and colleagues established that severe mental health situation such as high levels of stress, anxiety, or depression causes individuals to resort to substance use as a coping strategy against negative emotions. They also supported their arguments using the Self-medication theory, which holds that individuals’ alcohol and substance use, abuse, and addiction increases when they experience negative psychological distress. 

In another study by Roberts et al. (2021) that focused on establishing the reasons for the increase of alcohol consumption and other substance use during a pandemic, the findings revealed that the percentage of individuals consuming alcohol ranged from 21%-72%, while those taking other substances ranged from 3.6%-17.5% during the health crisis (Roberts et al., 2021). The authors stated that psychological factors were responsible for increasing alcohol and substance use. For instance, when individuals lost their loved ones, they were subjected to stress and depression, leading them to consume alcohol or other substances to cope with the negative emotions. A survey by Sun (2021) supported the findings of Roberts and his colleagues. According to Sun, Covid-19 associated problems such as forced mandates and deaths significantly affected HBCU undergraduate students. These students suffered numerous psychological issues such as stress, frustration, and anxiety, especially those who lost their loved ones, including parents, brothers, sisters, and grandparents, to Coronavirus. As a result, most of them developed stress management and coping skills. One of such approaches was consuming alcohol and other substances. The students used the little money they had to buy alcohol and other drugs to cope with the challenging emotional situation they experienced.

Moreover, Reyes-Portillo et al. (2022), in their survey on the psychological, financial, and academic impacts of Covid-19 infection and deaths among college students of color, found that Covid-19 disease and deaths disproportionately affected the students of color. In other words, these students were severely impacted by the financial, academic, and Covid-19-related stressors. The worries about loneliness, stressful conditions, and dropping out of college because of Covid-19 infections and deaths deteriorated their mental status. They became anxious, stressed, depressed, and frustrated. As a result, most HBCU students started consuming alcohol and other substances as a coping strategy. More than 80% of the participants in the survey indicated they had experienced at least one psychological issue because of the Covid-19 deaths Reyes-(Portillo et al., 2022). To them, losing a loved one was emotionally draining, and they had to look for ways to manage the painful feelings. 

Another study by Wang and Goodman (2021) on the mental health status of HBCU students during the Covid-19 pandemic showed that mental health concerns and alcohol and other drugs intake increased significantly among these students as the health crisis ravaged the world. The authors found that Covid-19 deaths contributed hugely to the mental health issues escalation. Typically, as the students received death reports of their parents, siblings, or relatives, they became worried and stressed-up (Wang & Goodman, 2021). Some even isolated themselves from others and spent most of their time alone. Because of the worries and loneliness, some of these students began taking alcohol and other substances as a coping strategy. Those who were already taking the drugs increased their use and addiction. Wang and Goodman noted that this was a case of self-medication where students tried to suppress the adverse emotions using alcohol and other substances. 

In summary, the scholars above gave their perspectives regarding the relationship between the Covid-19 deaths and increase in alcohol and other substance use, abuse, and intake. Most researchers agreed that Covid-19 fatalities and deaths from other pandemics cause psychological distress like anxiety, stress, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD), which influences individuals to consume alcohol and other drugs as a coping strategy. The studies based their arguments on the Self-Medication Theory developed between the 1980s and 2002 by Dr. Ed Khantzian. The theory posits that alcohol and drug use, abuse, and addiction depend on a person's mental status. Adverse mental concerns such as stress and anxiety influences alcohol and other substances use as a coping strategy. In other words, people take alcohol and other drugs to address the negative feelings associated with psychological distress. The theory explains why alcohol and other substance use, abuse, and addiction increased among HBCU students during the Covid-19 pandemics. 

References

Esterwood, E., & Saeed, S. A. (2020). Past epidemics, natural disasters, COVID19, and mental health: learning from history as we deal with the present and prepare for the future. Psychiatric quarterly, 91(4), 1121-1133.

Khantzian, E. J. (2018). The self-medication hypothesis and attachment theory: Pathways for understanding and ameliorating addictive suffering: The twentieth John Bowlby Memorial Lecture. In Addictions from an attachment perspective (pp. 33-56). Routledge.

Kılınç, M., Arslan, G., Çakar, F. S., &, Yıldırım, M. (2022). Psychological maltreatment, coping flexibility, and death obsession during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multi-mediation analysis. Current psychology, 1-9..

Nishith, P., Huang, J., Morse, G. A., Dell, N., Murphy, A., &.,  Mueser, K. T. (2022). A test of self-medication hypothesis for drug use in homeless persons: the role of severe mental illness. Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness, 1-8.

Reyes-Portillo, J. A., Masia Warner, C., Kline, E. A., Bixter, M. T., Chu, B. C., Miranda, R., ... & Jeglic, E. L. (2022). The Psychological, Academic, and Economic Impact of COVID-19 on College Students in the Epicenter of the Pandemic. Emerging Adulthood,  21676968211066657 .

Roberts, A., Rogers, J., Mason, R., Siriwardena, A. N., Hogue, T., Whitley, G. A., & Law, G. R. (2021). Alcohol and other substance use during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review. Drug and alcohol dependence, 229, 109150.

Smith, L. L., Yan, F., Charles, M., Mohiuddin, K., Tyus, D., Adekeye, O., &.,  Holden, K. B. (2017). Exploring the link between substance use and mental health status: what can we learn from the self-medication theory?. Journal of health car for the poor andunderserved, 28(2), 113-131.

Sun, W. (2021). HBCU undergraduate students’ perceived stress management and coping skills. Qualitative Research Reports in Communication, 1-12.

Wang, S. X., & Goodman, J. (2021). Mental Health of HBCU College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic. medRxiv