# Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Alcohol Consumption and Mental Health in Young People

> **NIH NIH U01** · SRI INTERNATIONAL · 2020 · $198,581

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic, best characterized as a disaster, is unprecedented in its impact on individuals,
societies, and the economy. Of special consideration is the effect of the pandemic on the psychological wellbeing
and behavior of young people. Here, we propose leveraging the longitudinal, multi-site National Consortium on
Alcohol and Neurodevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) study (2012-2022) to investigate changes in
wellbeing and behaviors, with a focus on alcohol use in response to the pandemic, in an established sample of
young people including moderate-heavy users and those at risk for alcohol use, and to identify risk and protective
factors for distress in response to the pandemic. Using NCANDA, we are able to directly address research
objectives of NOSI NOT-OD-20-097 to understand social, behavioral and economic impacts from containment
and mitigation efforts implemented to reduce spread of the COVID-19 disease, as well as downstream health
impacts including substance use/abuse, and to determine risk and resiliency factors and outcomes.
Unlike most research in this area, NCANDA includes neurobiological data critical to complement clinical and
self-report data in understanding the complex and dynamic interactions leading up to and following a disaster.
Also, with its accelerated longitudinal design and current age of participants spanning 17-28 years old, NCANDA
is uniquely powered to disentangle age and pandemic related effects, unlike traditional same-age cohort designs.
We propose supplementing the NCANDA project with a brief COVID-19 survey about alcohol use, mood, and
other behaviors during the pandemic as well as COVID-19 exposure and pandemic-related distress,
administered to participants in June 2020. To track long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the survey will
be re-administered in Winter 2020 and Summer 2021.
By embedding this survey, time-linked to the pandemic, within the existing NCANDA dataset, we propose
characterizing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol use, mental health, and brain in young people
(Aim 1) and to evaluate risk and resilience factors for COVID-19 pandemic-related distress (Aim 2). We propose
using advanced analytics, including machine learning approaches, to identify a `signature' from the rich
information captured by neuroimaging, clinical and self-report data prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, that predicts
distress versus resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. A machine-learning approach embraces the
complexity of the COVID-19 pandemic-related influence and takes advantage of the multi-domains within the
NCANDA dataset.
The analysis proposed in this supplement will offer valuable longitudinal data in a well-characterized sample of
young people who are bridging developmental years into adulthood and that includes those at high risk for, or
current heavy users of, alcohol. Such information can be used to guide public health and intervention strategies
t...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10171298
- **Project number:** 3U01AA021696-09S1
- **Recipient organization:** SRI INTERNATIONAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Fiona C Baker
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $198,581
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2012-09-05 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10171298

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10171298, Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on Alcohol Consumption and Mental Health in Young People (3U01AA021696-09S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10171298. Licensed CC0.

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