Research & Resources

This study examined the effects of alcohol and marijuana use on next-day absenteeism and engagement at work and school among young adults 18–25 years old who reported past-month alcohol use and simultaneous alcohol and marijuana use. Participants completed twice-daily surveys for five, 14-day bursts. The analytic sample was 409 young adults, 263 of whom were enrolled in college and 387 of whom were employed in at least one burst. Daily measures included any alcohol or marijuana use, quantity of alcohol or marijuana use (i.e., number of drinks, number of hours high), attendance at work or school, and engagement (i.e., attentiveness, productivity) at school or work. Researchers used multilevel models to examine between- and within-person associations between alcohol and marijuana use and next-day absenteeism and engagement at school or work. At the between-person level, the proportion of days of alcohol use was positively associated with next-day absence from school and a higher number of drinks consumed was positively associated with next-day absence from work, whereas the proportion of days of marijuana use was positively associated with next-day engagement at work. At the daily level, when participants consumed any alcohol or consumed more drinks than average, they reported lower next-day engagement at school and work. When participants used marijuana or were high for more hours than average, they reported lower next-day engagement at school. The findings suggest that alcohol and marijuana use consequences include next-day absenteeism and decreases in next-day engagement at school and work. These consequences could be incorporated into interventions aimed at ameliorating harmful impacts of substance use among young adults.

This paper, “Alcohol and marijuana use predicting next-day absenteeism and engagement at school and work: A daily study of young adults,” was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and published in the journal Addictive behaviors.