Within-person change in alcohol consumption and associated factors during a public health crisis.

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have reported different patterns of change in alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic, varying across countries and time periods. While some studies report an overall decrease in alcohol use, others describe an increase. This study aimed to investigate within-person changes in alcohol consumption specifically in the French population between 2018 and 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to identify the factors associated with these changes.

METHODS

We used longitudinal data from the French TEMPO cohort, established in 2009 among young adults, to examine within-person changes in alcohol consumption between 2018 and 2020. Data collected in 2018 and during the 2020 lockdown periods were analyzed for 607 participants using a multinomial mixed-effects regression model.

RESULTS

Approximately one-third of the study sample did not change their alcohol consumption between 2018 and 2020 (31.7%). While 24.4% experienced a moderate increase, 21.4% had a moderate decrease, 12.4% a large increase, and 10.0% a large decrease. Men had nearly three times higher odds of experiencing a large decrease in alcohol consumption, rather than maintaining a stable level of consumption, compared to women (95%CI = 1.88–5.49). Regular smokers had lower odds of experiencing a large decrease in alcohol consumption rather than maintaining a stable consumption compared to non-smokers (OR = 0.57, 95%CI = 0.35–0.93).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study revealed different trends in alcohol consumption between 2018 and 2020, with most participants maintaining a consistent level of alcohol consumption, while some modestly increased it. This study enabled us to identify vulnerable groups which require particular attention and monitoring in the event of other health, economic, social, or climate-related crises.