Description/Abstract
Drug overdose deaths in the United States increasingly include the use of multiple drugs, known as polysubstance use. These include opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine, tranquilizers, and sedatives. Polysubstance use is considered high risk because it can cause dangerous synergistic effects and result in the ingestion of higher amounts of drugs. This brief summarizes findings from a study that used data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health on U.S. adults from 2002 through 2019 to examine gender and marital status differences in high-risk polysubstance use among U.S. adults ages 18 and older. The authors find that polysubstance use is higher among men and marriage was more protective against polysubstance use for men than women.
Document Type
Research Brief
Keywords
Polysubstance use, gender, marital status, overdose, population health
Disciplines
Gender and Sexuality | Sociology | Substance Abuse and Addiction
Date
2-18-2025
Language
English
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Population Research Institute at Penn State University, which is supported by an infrastructure grant by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [P2CHD041025], and by the Prevention and Methodology Training Program with funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse [T32DA017629, principal investigators J. Maggs and S. Lanza]. The authors thank Alyssa Kirk and Shannon Monnat for their comments on an earlier draft.
Recommended Citation
England, Kira and Chapman, Alexander. (2025). How Do Gender and Marital Status Impact High-Risk Polysubstance Use? Lerner Center Population Health Research Brief Series. Research Brief #129. Accessed at: https://doi.org/10.14305/rt.lerner.2025.6.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
