Examining the Impacts of the Opioid Crisis on Student Absenteeism in Arizona Public Schools during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The opioid epidemic has been a persistent and complex issue in the United States for decades. The state of Arizona, specifically, has been a hotbed for the opioid epidemic since 2016, with the number of overdoses and deaths sharply increasing since then; these rates have further increased with the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic. While prior studies linking the increase in opioid use to the recent COVID-19 pandemic exist, there is limited research on the influence of opioids on younger populations. Our research will address this underrepresented group by examining the effects of opioid use on Arizonan youth and its relationship to absences and withdrawals from public school systems in a targeted pilot study. Through the dispersion of a random survey on various social media platforms and cold-contacting Arizona school officials and local businesses, we collected data on demographics, school absence rates, and pandemic-associated opioid use. After running an ANOVA variance test, we observed an inconsistent trend between certain opioid use and school absences amidst the pandemic, suggesting that individual circumstances are likely to impact student absenteeism. Thus, while the COVID-19 pandemic has a link to the rate of Arizona student absentees, more research needs to be conducted to fully assess the relationship of these variables with the opioid crisis. The past, present, and future of Arizona’s legislation in combating the opioid crisis and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is also discussed.

阿片类药物危机数十年来一直是美国持续存在且错综复杂的公共卫生议题。亚利桑那州自2016年起便成为阿片类药物危机的重灾区，当地药物过量事件与死亡人数自此急剧攀升；而随着新型冠状病毒肺炎（Coronavirus Disease 2019，COVID-19）疫情的暴发，相关指标进一步攀升。尽管已有既往研究将阿片类药物使用量的增加与近期新冠疫情相关联，但针对年轻群体受阿片类药物影响的研究仍较为有限。本研究聚焦这一代表性不足的群体，通过一项针对性试点研究，考察阿片类药物使用对亚利桑那州青年的影响，以及其与公立学校系统学生缺课、退学之间的关联。研究团队通过在多个社交媒体平台随机发放问卷，并冷接触亚利桑那州的学校官员与本地企业，收集了人口统计学特征、学校缺课率以及疫情期间阿片类药物使用相关的数据。经方差分析（Analysis of Variance，ANOVA）检验后，我们观察到疫情期间部分阿片类药物使用情况与学校缺课率之间的趋势并不一致，这表明个体环境因素很可能会影响学生的缺勤行为。因此，尽管新冠疫情与亚利桑那州学生的缺勤率存在关联，但仍需开展更多研究，以全面评估这些变量与阿片类药物危机之间的关系。本研究同时探讨了亚利桑那州为应对阿片类药物危机与持续蔓延的新冠疫情所出台的立法的过去、现状与未来。