Impacts of Public Health Status and Life Disruptions on Alcohol Consumption in Young Adults Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT

Using data from a national online sample, the current study examined factors impacting changes in alcohol use immediately following the WHO pandemic declaration (March 2020), including pre-COVID risk for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Participants with pre-COVID AUD risk, who experienced at least one COVID-related problem (e.g. housing, finances), demonstrated the greatest increase in weekly drinking. However, college students at-risk for AUD pre-COVID, with academic disruptions, showed the greatest consumption increases. The findings provide insight into the complex relationships between COVID-19 related disruptions, preexisting AUD risk, and their impact on risky drinking during a critical period in the pandemic. Implications for future public health prevention and intervention responses are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Young adults
• alcohol
• alcohol use disorder
• COVID-19
• students

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was part of a larger project approved by the Palo Alto University Institutional Review Board. The data for this study were collected using university professional development funds from the corresponding author. This research received no other funding or grant award for this study. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.