(PS2-1) An Examination of COVID Stress Syndrome Facets and Relations to Substance Misuse Using Profile Analysis via Multidimensional Scaling (PAMS)

Abstract Text: Due to its isolating and stressful nature, the COVID-19 pandemic perpetuated an array of societal and mental health challenges, including increased substance misuse. In response to this, researchers have conceptually and empirically validated the concept of the COVID stress syndrome. This syndrome consists of interrelated psychological processes that occur in response to pandemic-related stress, including danger/contamination fears, fears concerning economic consequences, xenophobia, compulsive checking/reassurance-seeking, and pandemic-related traumatic stress symptoms. The COVID Stress Scale (CSS), a self-report questionnaire designed to measure aspects of COVID stress syndrome, has been shown in previous research to be positively associated with alcohol and other substance use during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the present study, we examined the relations between identified profiles of the COVID Stress Scales (CSS) and behavioral and cognitive aspects of substance misuse, respectively. The data, collected during the early stages of the pandemic in May 2020, consisted of a sample of 812 participants, (M = 44.45, SD = 17.21), drawn from the general population in Canada and the USA. Profile via multidimensional scaling (PAMS) was used to identify reliable unique patterns of CSS responding across domains. From this, two distinct profiles surfaced: 1) High compulsive checking & Low xenophobia and 2) High xenophobia & Low danger/contamination. These two core profiles accounted for 60 % (37% for Profile 1 and 23 % for Profile 2) of total variance (R2 = 0.60). The first profile is consistent with the COVID stress syndrome and was characterized by low-suspicion of foreign members and excessive pandemic-related avoidance behaviors. The second profile aligns with the COVID disregard syndrome (a related construct), which entails a decreased concern of potential infection and perceived invulnerability to illness and/or infection. Both profiles, ranging from excessive concern (Profile 1) to maladaptive disregard (Profile 2), demonstrated significant positive correlations with drug (Profile 1: r = .15; Profile 2: r =.17) and alcohol (Profile 1: r = .20; Profile 2: r = .19). However, only the High xenophobia/Low danger profile (Profile 2) demonstrated a positive correlation with positive expectancies of alcohol use (r = .12) and a negative correlation with negative (r = -.11) expectancies. This pattern highlights these participants’ likelihood of attributing positive expectations of alcohol use accompanied by disregard for negative consequences. Overall, these results support the growing body of evidence for the relationship between the COVID stress syndrome and substance misuse. On a larger scale, this research offers potential for further understanding of how unique facets of the syndrome impact mental health and substance use-related outcomes and may prove useful for informing community-based public health interventions in response to future pandemics.