Muhajarine, Nazeem2023-09-1820232023-092023-09-15Septemberhttps://hdl.handle.net/10388/15001Background: The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has had a significant impact on mental health and substance use worldwide. The outbreak and its associated restrictions have created a unique and challenging situation, leading to various psychological and emotional consequences. Being a significant public health concern, the intersection between substance use and mental health problem and/or concurrent experience has not received a great deal of attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective: To identify the prevalence of concurrent experience, mental health symptoms and problematic substance use, and its associated factors among Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This study comprised 14,897 Canadians who completed an online survey via Leger's online panel. This study consisted of ten waves of data collected between Oct 2020 and Mar 2022. In this study, concurrent experience was defined as mild to severe symptoms of depression and/or anxiety AND meeting screening criteria for problematic cannabis and/or alcohol use. Multivariable logistic regression models were fitted to identify the associated factors. Data were analyzed using Stata (v14.2) software (StataCrop, College Station, TX, USA) using sampling weight provided in the data set (Leger calculated sampling weight variable using the 2016 census). Results: The prevalence of concurrent experience was 17.12%; about 45.54% of the participants reported at least one (mental health symptoms/problematic substance use) experience. Among the provinces, the highest prevalence was reported in Saskatchewan (19.4%). Multinominal logistic regression analysis using pooled data showed that age, gender, 2SLGBTQ+ identity, self-reported ethnocultural minority status, diagnostic history of mental health and substance use disorder, suicidal ideation, and ability to handle unexpected/difficult situations were significantly associated with concurrent experience of mental health symptoms and problematic substance use during COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. These factors were also significantly associated with at least one experience of poor mental health or problematic substance use. Conclusion: This analysis showed that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted mental health and problematic substance use in significant and interrelated ways. Data-driven province-specific interventions might be helpful toward a client-centred and integrated mental health and substance use care system in Canada.application/pdfenMental healthSubstance useConcurrent experienceConcurrent disorderCOVID-19Canada.Thesis2023-09-18