Alcohol and other substance use by faculty, staff, and students in a university community during two hurricanes: Lessons for preventing risky misuse

Communities commonly warn against heavy alcohol and other substance use during natural disasters like hurricanes, because such use may produce risk for individuals and communities, with studies showing deleterious effects persisting months or even years. Examining patterns and emotional correlates o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of community psychology Vol. 49; no. 6; pp. 1554 - 1567
Main Authors Noel, Nora E., Swearingen, Kristen M., Urch, Melissa A., Crews, Faith S., Espinosa‐Hernandez, Graciela, McCool, Matison W., Jackson, Lee A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.08.2021
Subjects
Alcohol
Alcohol abuse
Alcohol use
Caffeine
College faculty
College students
Drug use
Hurricanes
Natural disasters
Prevention
Risk
risky substance use prevention
Substance abuse
substance use
Tobacco
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Summary:Communities commonly warn against heavy alcohol and other substance use during natural disasters like hurricanes, because such use may produce risk for individuals and communities, with studies showing deleterious effects persisting months or even years. Examining patterns and emotional correlates of use in the immediate presence of hurricanes may identify useful risk prevention targets. We assessed self‐reported substance use and emotions in a university community (faculty, staff, and students) having the unlucky fate of experiencing hurricanes in early September 2 years in a row. Participants (403 in 2018, 76.0% female; M age 28.82; SD = 12.36 and 292 in 2019, 72.6% female; M age 30.63; SD = 13.96) reported typical weekly substance use and emotions and then the same data during each hurricane day. Results showed elevated use of alcohol, caffeine and tobacco before and during each hurricane, but a rapid drop‐off of alcohol and caffeine (but not tobacco) use immediately after—although anxiety remained high. Findings are interpreted using both tension‐reduction and stress‐coping models and suggestions are made for future risk mitigation.
Bibliography:Preliminary findings from this study were presented as a poster at the Association Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies convention, 2019, in Atlanta, GA, USA.
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ISSN:0090-4392
1520-6629
DOI:10.1002/jcop.22631