COVID-19 lockdown related stress among young adults: The role of drug use disorder, neurotic health symptoms, and pathological smartphone use

This study examined the roles of drug use disorder, neurotic health symptoms, and pathological smartphone use in COVID-19 lockdown–related stress. A sample of 288 young adults were purposively recruited. Data were collected using four standardized measures with robust psychometric properties: Cannabis Abuse Screening Test (CAST), the Smartphone Addiction Scale, COVID Stress Scale, and a Neuroticism subscale of the Big Five Inventory. The participants’ ages ranged from 17 to 34 years, with a mean age of 24.09 (SD = 3.81) years. The hierarchical regression confirmed the hypotheses and results were consistent with expectations, F(3, 284) = 4.79, p < .05, such that 4.8% of the variance in COVID-19 lockdown stress was a result of the joint function of drug use disorder, neurotic health symptoms, and pathological smartphone use. Drug use disorder contributed to COVID-19 lockdown stress independently, whereas when merged with neuroticism, it did not predict outcome variable independently; the same was true for pathological smartphone use when entered into the third model. The preventive and control advocacy is a harm-reduction approach. Further empirical investigations of other predictors of COVID-19 lockdown stress, with a goal of initiating telebehavioral health interventions targeted at identifying and treating people with mental health needs—especially in times of global pandemic or movement restrictions—are recommended.