Inégalités sociales vis-à-vis des conduites addictives dans le contexte de l’épidemie de COVID-19

Background

The case of the COVID-19 virus outbreak led entire populations of several countries, including France, to be summoned to implement social distancing measures for preventive purposes. On the one hand, because of reduced social opportunities, during lockdown individuals may have decreased the use of certain substances (ex. alcohol). Yet at the same time, because the pandemic is a source of stress, the use of other substances may have increased (ex. tobacco). Moreover, previous research has described social inequalities with regard to addictive behaviors such as cigarette smoking (1) and alcohol use (2), and there is reason to believe that these inequalities may have widened during the epidemic, but data on this topic are lacking.

Objectives and method

The aims of this thesis will be to investigate whether the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated social distancing measures are associated with changes in patterns of use of tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis and whether these changes differ according to individuals’ socioeconomic position. The thesis will be based on, 1) the SAPRIS project, where approximately 110 000 persons completed the first study questionnaire in the beginning of April 2020. Levels of substance use as well as changes in this area will be studied using logistic and linear regression methods. 2) The TEMPO-COVID-19 study, which was conducted in 7 waves from March to May 2020 among a total of 729 participants from the TEMPO cohort study. The TEMPO data will be analyzed using statistical models well-suited for the study of repeated data such as Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE).

Expected results

The results of this project are expected to contribute to knowledge about patterns of tobacco, alcohol and cannabis use in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing, as well as the role of social determinants in this area.