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Abstract
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Adolescent substance use remains a serious legal and health concern.
The current study examines whether reminders of decarceration and health risks that occurred with COVID-19 influence attitudes toward harm reduction policies and justice-involved adolescents with substance use disorders, and whether effects vary by gender. Participants (N = 363) were randomized to one of four vignettes describing an adolescent (male or female) with a substance use disorder arrested for drug use, with or without a description of COVID-19 risks and subsequent decarceration.
Attitudes toward the adolescent, harm reduction policies, and justice-involved youth were assessed. COVID-19 nor gender influenced participants' attitudes. This is the first study to investigate COVID-19's impact on attitudes toward drug policy.
Limitations, implications, and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Keywords: gender, COVID-19, substance use, justice-involved youth
Language: en |