The Association of Frequency of Worry About Financial Debt With Substance Use Among Adults in Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Background

Financial debt and associated stress might increase the risk of substance use problems or exacerbate existing ones. Little evidence is available about the degree of debt stress and its association with substance use. The objective of this study was to examine the associations of the frequency of worry about debt with heavy episodic drinking (HED), daily smoking, e-cigarette use, and cannabis use in the past 30 days.

Methods

Data were utilized from the 2020/2022 Monitor study, a repeated cross-sectional survey of adults 18 years and older in Ontario, Canada. The surveys employed a web-based panel survey of 6038 adults and collected data on debt-related stress, HED, tobacco smoking, e-cigarettes, and cannabis use in the past 30 days. Odds ratios (OR) were estimated from logistic regression models accounting for sociodemographic factors.

Results

Overall, 18.4% of respondents reported that they were worried about their debt most or all of the time. Accounting for household income, educational status, employment status, and other factors, the results revealed that there was a dose-response relationship between the frequency of worry about debt and substance use including daily smoking, e-cigarette use, and cannabis use in the past 30 days compared to those who were not worried at all about their debt. Sex differences were also found in the association between worry about debt and e-cigarette use.

Conclusions

The frequency of worry about debt might have an important role in substance use, which suggests that financial well-being is vital in substance use prevention and harm reduction.

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• debt
• worry
• alcohol
• smoking
• e-cigarette
• cannabis

Acknowledgment

This research is based on the CAMH Monitor Survey, a Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) initiative that is funded in part through targeted funding from provincially funded organizations. We acknowledge the Institute for Social Research at York University for administering the data collection.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare they have no conflict of interest.

Data availability

The data can be accessed up on request ([email protected]).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.