Associations between Uptake of Public Health Orders and Mental Health and Substance Use among Patients with Co-Occurring Substance Use and Mental Health Disorders during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, adults with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders were at increased risk of impaired psychiatric functioning and exacerbation of their substance use. In the present investigation, we examined the association between adherence to public health orders and symptoms of depression, anxiety, sleep, and substance use among patients with comorbid substance use and mental health disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether these associations were moderated by treatment stage or treatment engagement. A total of 136 patients (63% women) receiving outpatient services between November 2020 and March 2021 completed self-report questionnaires on their uptake of public health orders, psychiatric symptoms, change in substance use, and treatment engagement. Results from a series of hierarchical linear regressions indicated no main effect for the uptake of public health orders on the variables of interest, after accounting for multiple comparisons. Overall, findings did not support our research hypotheses.