Alcohol Consumption on the Heaviest Drinking Occasion and Hangovers during the First Dutch COVID-19 Lockdown

Agnese Merlo, Noortje R Severeijns, Pauline A Hendriksen, Sarah Benson, Andrew Scholey, Johan Garssen, Gillian Bruce and Joris C Verster
Additional contact information
Agnese Merlo: Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584CG Utrecht, The Netherlands
Noortje R Severeijns: Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584CG Utrecht, The Netherlands
Pauline A Hendriksen: Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584CG Utrecht, The Netherlands
Sarah Benson: Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University, Melbourne, VIC 3122, Australia
Andrew Scholey: Nutrition Dietetics and Food, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
Johan Garssen: Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584CG Utrecht, The Netherlands
Gillian Bruce: Division of Psychology and Social Work, School of Education and Social Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE, UK
Joris C Verster: Division of Pharmacology, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584CG Utrecht, The Netherlands

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 7, 1-12

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to compare alcohol consumption between the heaviest drinking occasion in the period before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown (15 January–14 March 2020) and the first COVID-19 lockdown period (15 March–11 May 2020) in the Netherlands, including the presence and severity of associated hangovers. The analysis included a sub-sample from the “Corona Lockdown: how fit are you?” (CLOFIT) study, comprising N = 761 participants who reported consuming alcohol in 2020. Overall, on the heaviest drinking occasion during the first COVID-19 lockdown period a significant reduction in number of alcoholic drinks consumed on the heaviest drinking occasion, drinking duration, and estimated BAC was observed. A significant reduction was also observed for subjective intoxication and next-day hangover severity. During the lockdown period, a significant reduction in the frequency of alcohol hangovers was reported. Several age and sex differences were observed. Specifically, men consumed significantly more alcohol than women and experienced hangovers significantly more frequently, both before and during the lockdown. With regard to age, young adults (18–35 years old) significantly reduced their alcohol intake on the heaviest drinking occasion during the lockdown and also reported lower ratings of subjective intoxication and hangover severity. No significant changes were seen for individuals above 35 years old. In conclusion, the first COVID-19 lockdown in the Netherlands was associated with reduced alcohol intake on the heaviest drinking occasion and a reduction in the severity of hangovers, particularly among young male adults.

Keywords: alcohol; hangover; COVID-19; lockdown; heaviest drinking occasion; subjective intoxication; age; sex (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/4301/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/4301/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:7:p:4301-:d:786550

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().