Abstract
Background: Increases in the incidence of psychological distress and alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic have been predicted. Behavioral theories of depression and alcohol self-medication theories suggest that greater social/environmental constraints and increased psychological distress during COVID-19 could result in increases in depression and drinking to cope with negative affect. The current study had two goals: (1) to examine self-reported changes in alcohol use and related outcomes after the introduction of COVID-19 social distancing requirements, and; (2) to test hypothesized mediation models to explain individual differences in self-reported changes in depression and alcohol use during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: Participants (n = 833) were U.S. residents recruited for participation in a single online survey. The cross-sectional survey included questions assessing environmental reward, depression, COVID-19-related distress, drinking motives, and alcohol use outcomes. Outcomes were assessed via retrospective self-report for two timeframes in the single survey: the 30 days prior to state-mandated social distancing (“pre-social-distancing”), and the 30 days after the start of state-mandated social distancing (“post-social-distancing”).Results: Depression severity, coping motives, and some indices of alcohol consumption (e.g., frequency of binge drinking, and frequency of solitary drinking) were significantly greater post-social-distancing relative to pre-social-distancing. Conversely, environmental reward and other drinking motives (social, enhancement, and conformity) were significantly lower post-social distancing compared to pre-social-distancing. Behavioral economic indices (alcohol demand) were variable with regard to change. Mediation analyses suggested a significant indirect effect of reduced environmental reward with drinking quantity/frequency via increased depressive symptoms and coping motives, and a significant indirect effect of COVID-related distress with alcohol quantity/frequency via coping motives for drinking.Discussion: Results provide early cross-sectional evidence regarding the relation of environmental reward, depression, and COVID-19-related psychological distress with alcohol consumption and coping motives during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results are largely consistent with predictions from behavioral theories of depression and alcohol self-medication frameworks. Future research is needed to study prospective associations among these outcomes.
Highlights
In the first 8 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been over 27 million confirmed and presumptive cases of the COVID-19 infection globally [1]
To address the first hypothesis, we modeled the indirect effect of post-social-distancing environmental reward (RPI total score) on post-social-distancing alcohol QF through postsocial-distancing depression severity (PHQ) and post-socialdistancing coping motives (DMQ-R coping motive subscale)
Participants reported a greater frequency of binge drinking, but no change in the quantity and frequency of alcohol use
Summary
In the first 8 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been over 27 million confirmed and presumptive cases of the COVID-19 infection globally [1]. The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) reported that ∼1 in 5 individuals who consume alcohol reported increases in alcohol consumption relative to the period prior to the pandemic, the majority did not report an increase in alcohol consumption [13]. These findings are consistent with predictions that circumstances surrounding the pandemic may lead to increases in consumption for some people, but no change or decreases for others [4], making it important to understand factors coinciding with increases in consumption. The current study had two goals: [1] to examine self-reported changes in alcohol use and related outcomes after the introduction of COVID-19 social distancing requirements, and; [2] to test hypothesized mediation models to explain individual differences in self-reported changes in depression and alcohol use during the early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic
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