Investigating the symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in individuals who use alcohol and cigarette during the COVID-19 pandemic

Research regarding the COVID-19 pandemic process has been increased day by day. Determining the change of tobacco and alcohol use during the pandemic period has become essential in terms of public health. This study aimed to examine this change in the context of post-traumatic stress disorder. This study was conducted with 475 people over the age of 18 who smoke or drink alcohol, or both. In the study, the usage amounts of the participants who used alcohol and cigarettes during the pandemic process were categorized. The means of post-traumatic stress disorder scores of the obtained groups were compared with one-way analysis of variance for unrelated samples. Demographic Information Form and the Impact of Events Scale (IES-R) were used in the study. Regarding the post-traumatic stress disorder mean scores of the four groups which were categorized in the study, respectively; only alcohol use increased (M = 20.86), smoking only increased (M = 29.06), both alcohol and cigarette use increased (M = 29.61), alcohol or cigarette use did not change (M = 20.95), there is a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of post-traumatic stress disorder in some of the groups that did not find any of the classifications related to alcohol and cigarette use appropriate (M = 21.79), F (4,474) = 8.94, p < .05. The present study indicates that there is a significant difference in the post-traumatic stress disorder scores of the groups with varying amounts of alcohol and cigarette use. In this context, it is considered as important to develop biopsychosocial intervention programs regarding the use of these substances, especially during the pandemic period.