If you are in distress, you can call or text 988 at any time. If it is an emergency, call 9-1-1 or go to your local emergency department.

  • Archive, Reports, Research

Mental Health and Substance Use During COVID-19: Spotlight on Gender and Household Size

COVID-19 continues to have a serious impact on mental health and substance use, with differences by gender and household size

A new report from the series of Leger polls commissioned by the Mental Health Commission of Canada and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction highlights the different impact of COVID-19-related stressors by gender and household size, and provides an update on impacts for people with pre-existing substance use disorders or mental illness.

The survey of more than 7,000 Canadian residents found that female respondents in households with children under 13 reported higher rates of anxiety and increased substance use.

Key findings:

  • More females report moderate-to-severe anxiety symptoms than males (29% vs 20%), with even higher rates for females and males in households with kids under 13 (37% vs 24%)
  • Females in households with kids under 13 report higher rates of increased substance use than males (37% vs 26% for alcohol, 48% vs 37% for cannabis).
  • More males report excellent or very good mental health than females (48% vs 35%),  but more males report problematic alcohol use (28% vs 16%) and problematic cannabis use (43% vs 32%).
  • People living alone are more likely to report moderate-to-severe depression symptoms (20% vs 15%), thoughts of suicide (9% vs 6%), and problematic alcohol use (31% vs 22%) compared to the rest of the population.
  • Infographic: Mental Health and Substance Use During COVID-19: Spotlight on Canadian Households with Young Children

Other reports in the same series

Mental Health and Substance Use During COVID-19: First Summary Report

Mental Health and Substance Use During COVID-19: Spotlight on Income, Employment, Access

  • Archive, Reports, Research

Mental Health and Substance Use During COVID-19: Spotlight on Gender and Household Size

Mental Health and Substance Use During COVID-19: Spotlight on Gender and Household Size

  • COVID, Mental Health and Substance Use

COVID-19 continues to have a serious impact on mental health and substance use, with differences by gender and household size

A new report from the series of Leger polls commissioned by the Mental Health Commission of Canada and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction highlights the different impact of COVID-19-related stressors by gender and household size, and provides an update on impacts for people with pre-existing substance use disorders or mental illness.

The survey of more than 7,000 Canadian residents found that female respondents in households with children under 13 reported higher rates of anxiety and increased substance use.

Key findings:

  • More females report moderate-to-severe anxiety symptoms than males (29% vs 20%), with even higher rates for females and males in households with kids under 13 (37% vs 24%)
  • Females in households with kids under 13 report higher rates of increased substance use than males (37% vs 26% for alcohol, 48% vs 37% for cannabis).
  • More males report excellent or very good mental health than females (48% vs 35%),  but more males report problematic alcohol use (28% vs 16%) and problematic cannabis use (43% vs 32%).
  • People living alone are more likely to report moderate-to-severe depression symptoms (20% vs 15%), thoughts of suicide (9% vs 6%), and problematic alcohol use (31% vs 22%) compared to the rest of the population.
  • Infographic: Mental Health and Substance Use During COVID-19: Spotlight on Canadian Households with Young Children

Other reports in the same series

Mental Health and Substance Use During COVID-19: First Summary Report

Mental Health and Substance Use During COVID-19: Spotlight on Income, Employment, Access

Download the PDF

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Feedback Form

Hey, thanks for checking out this resource. After you’ve seen it, we’d love to learn a bit more about your interests and how you found us. Was the information what you looking for? Was it helpful? We’ll use any feedback you provide to further improve what we do.

Are you willing to be contacted within 3 to 6 months for a short follow-up survey?
In case of “Yes” – please provide an email address

SHARE THIS PAGE

RELATED
Review Our Mental Health App Assessment Framework

Review our Assessment Framework for Mental Health Apps — a national framework containing key standards for safe, quality, and effective mental health apps in Canada.

Read More
E-Mental Health Implementation E-Modules

To help expand the use of e-mental health services, we developed four online learning modules based on our Toolkit for E-Mental Health Implementation, in collaboration with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

Read More
Stepped Care 2.0

Stepped Care 2.0© (SC2.0) is a transformative model for organizing and delivering evidence-informed mental health and substance use services.

Read More

Structural Stigma in Health-Care Contexts for People with Mental Health and Substance Use Issues – A Literature Review
This resource was published in 2020. The data may be out of date. People living with mental health and substance use issues need prompt access to quality health care. Sometimes they receive it, but often they do not. Significant barriers stand in the way when people with lived experience seek access to care, with many...
READ MORE

Structural Stigma in Health-Care Contexts for People with Mental Health and Substance Use Issues – A Literature Review
This resource was published in 2020. The data may be out of date. People living with mental health and substance use issues need prompt access to quality health care. Sometimes they receive it, but often they do not. Significant barriers stand in the way when people with lived experience seek access to care, with many...
READ MORE