Changes in Alcohol Consumption during the COVID-19 Pandemic Are Dependent on Initial Consumption Level: Findings from Eight European Countries

Ingeborg Rossow, Miroslav Bartak, Kim Bloomfield, Fleur Braddick, Elin K. Bye, Carolin Kilian, Hugo López-Pelayo, Pia Mäkelä, Inger Synnøve Moan, Jacek Moskalewicz, Benjamin Petruzelka, Vladimír Rogalewicz and Jakob Manthey
Additional contact information
Ingeborg Rossow: Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, 0213 Oslo, Norway
Miroslav Bartak: Department of Addictology, First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital in Prague, Charles University, 12800 Praha, Czech Republic
Kim Bloomfield: Centre for Alcohol and Drug Research, Aarhus University, 2400 Copenhagen, Denmark
Fleur Braddick: Clínic Foundation for Biomedical Research (FCRB), 08037 Barcelona, Spain
Elin K. Bye: Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, 0213 Oslo, Norway
Carolin Kilian: Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, 01187 Dresden, Germany
Hugo López-Pelayo: Clinical Addictions Research Group (GRAC-GRE), Psychiatry Department, Neurosciences Institute, Hospital Clínic, Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer, University of Barcelona, 08037 Barcelona, Spain
Pia Mäkelä: Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, 00271 Helsinki, Finland
Inger Synnøve Moan: Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, 0213 Oslo, Norway
Jacek Moskalewicz: Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, 02-957 Warsaw, Poland
Benjamin Petruzelka: Department of Addictology, First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital in Prague, Charles University, 12800 Praha, Czech Republic
Vladimír Rogalewicz: Department of Addictology, First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital in Prague, Charles University, 12800 Praha, Czech Republic
Jakob Manthey: Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, 01187 Dresden, Germany

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 19, 1-12

Abstract: Evidence suggests that changes in alcohol consumption during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic were unevenly distributed over consumer groups. We investigated possible inter-country differences in how changes in alcohol consumption are contingent on initial consumption (before or at the start of the pandemic), and how changes in consumption translate into possible changes in the prevalence of heavy drinking. We used data from the European Survey on Alcohol use and COVID-19 (ESAC) conducted in Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Poland, Spain, and the UK (N = 31921). Past-year alcohol consumption and changes in consumption were measured by AUDIT-C. Drinking habits were compared according to percentiles of pre-pandemic consumption levels, below versus above the 90th percentile. Across countries, drinkers in the highest 10% for pre-pandemic consumption increased their drinking during the pandemic, whereas absolute changes among those initially drinking below this level were modest. The percentage of people reporting >28 alcohol units/week increased significantly in seven of eight countries. During the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, alcohol consumption in the upper decile of the drinkers increased as did the prevalence of heavy drinkers, in contrast with a declining consumption in other groups in the sample.

Keywords: alcohol consumption; COVID-19; restrictions; polarization; heavy drinking; comparison; Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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