Qingchen Yu
Pronouns:
Research Mentor(s): Carol Lee
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Department of Psychiatry / Medicine
Program: CG
Session: Session 1 (9:00am – 9:50am)
Authors: Carol Lee, Qingchen Yu, Chloe Redfern
Abstract
The project is titled the impact of COVID-19 on young minority groups with substance use disorders (SUDs) recovery and their mental health. The research examines the impact of COVID-19 on young adult (ages 18-29) racial minorities who reported experiencing both risk and protective effects on their addiction recovery and mental health issues during the pandemic. The study incorporates participatory research in the Newark region to conduct a qualitative study. This qualitative research was executed using a program, Dedoose, through which we analyzed 20 interview transcripts with young people of color surrounding Newark with current or past substance use disorders. In this project, we coded those 20 transcripts based on excerpts. We specifically focused on two codes: “COVID – Effects of COVID on addiction recovery†(explain any positive/negative/neutral effects of COVID on their addiction recovery. Examples include participants relapsing, using less, or using more. They may also report using different types of substances than they used to use) and “COVID – Effects of COVID on mental health†(COVID effects on mental health may include stress, anxiety, and depression. What are some of the mental health changes the participants report during the interview?). After analyzing the themes generated by those excerpts, it showed participants reported the negative effects of the pandemic on their addiction recovery and mental health, including relapse, increased substance use, and increased levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. Our findings show how minority groups of color are more significantly affected by substance use disorder during COVID-19. This research is intended to elicit a response from the field of social work to assist racial and ethnic minority groups that have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and promote adequate relapse prevention. Finally, the data emanating from this project is proposed to guide larger-scale studies in the field of challenges specific to marginalized populations as well as in the field of substance use recovery.
