Pathways between Adverse Change in Employment and Alcohol Use among U.S. Women during a Global Pandemic: The Moderating Role of Conformity to Masculine Norms

Abstract

Background

This study examined changes in reported alcohol use among women during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and the relations to adverse changes in employment (e.g. job loss, furlough, reduced pay). Further, this study assessed how the relation between changes in alcohol use and experiencing an adverse change in employment was moderated by four theoretically relevant dimensions of conformity to masculine norms (CMNI, i.e. risk-taking, winning, self-reliance, and primacy of work).

Methods

The sample for the present study is a subset of a survey that was conducted in the spring of 2020 among U.S. adults and includes 509 participants who met the inclusion criteria. We assessed pandemic-related employment change status, changes in reported frequency and quantity of alcohol consumed, and four CMNI dimensions. Relations between these variables were assessed with a multinomial logistic regression path model.

Results

Experiencing an adverse change in employment early in the pandemic was related to increased alcohol use when moderated by the CMNI dimension primacy of work. For people higher on primacy of work, an adverse change in employment was associated with a higher likelihood of reporting an increase in frequency, but not quantity, of drinking (rather than a decrease or no change). Not experiencing an adverse change in employment early in the pandemic was associated with an increased likelihood of reporting an increase for quantity but not frequency.

Conclusion

The results highlight the importance of considering how work-oriented women may be at risk for increasing alcohol use when confronted with changes in work status.

Keywords:

• Alcohol use
• employment
• women
• masculine norms
• COVID-19 pandemic

Disclosure statement of interest

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Data availability statement

The data presented in this article are available by request from the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

Dr Jessica Perrotte’s contribution during the drafting of this manuscript was supported by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health under award number K01AA029473. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.