By 20 April 2020, all but eight states had issued state-wide shelter-at-home orders requiring residents to stay home unless conducting “essential activities”. Due to concern over the contagiousness of COVID-19 and the harm suffered if contracted, the Washington governor declared a state of emergency that same day (29 February 2020). on 22 January 2020 the first reported death occurred on 29 February 2020 in Washington state. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were alerted to the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. The emergence of COVID-19 may have similar impacts on alcohol consumption and related harms, but the effects are still mainly unknown. Similarly, adults in New York City with posttraumatic stress disorder two years after the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center also reported increased alcohol use and binge drinking. This was significantly associated with “increased alcohol abuse/dependence symptoms” three years after the outbreak. For example, researchers found that individuals in China who were quarantined or worked in high-risk locations during the 2003 SARS epidemic were more likely to use alcohol as a coping mechanism.
When individuals experience periods of economic or psychological stress, they often consume more alcohol, resulting in increased symptoms of alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence. Research shows that those experiencing stress often report increased alcohol consumption and misuse. Excessive drinking has also been associated with increased violence, crime, poverty, sexually transmitted diseases, and other significant public heath harms. Alcohol is a harmful substance, and is, in fact, currently the fourth leading preventable cause of death in the U.S. Pandemics such as COVID-19 can cause many medical, psychological, and sociological problems, including increased alcohol consumption and related harms from such consumption. Participants who reported being stressed by the pandemic consumed more drinks over a greater number of days, which raises concerns from both an individual and public health perspective. Reasons for increased drinking included increased stress (45.7%), increased alcohol availability (34.4%), and boredom (30.1%).
Additionally, 60% reported increased drinking but 13% reported decreased drinking, compared to pre-COVID-19. Participants who experienced COVID-19-related stress (versus not) reported consuming more drinks (β = 4.7 CI (0.2, 9.1) p = 0.040) and a greater number of days drinking (β = 2.4 CI (0.6, 4.1) p = 0.007). One-third of participants (34.1%) reported binge drinking and 7.0% reported extreme binge drinking. Participants reported consuming 26.8 alcohol drinks on 12.2 of the past 30 days. A total of 832 responded: 84% female, 85% White, and 72% ages 26–49. We conducted adjusted linear regressions to assess COVID-19 stress and alcohol consumption, adjusting for gender, race, ethnicity, age, and household income. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey with a convenience sample of U.S. This study assessed: (1) whether drinking behaviors changed during the pandemic and, (2) how those changes were impacted by COVID-19-related stress. Emerging but limited evidence suggests that alcohol consumption has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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