Is talk cheap? Correspondence between self-attributions about changes in drinking and longitudinal changes in drinking during the 2019 coronavirus pandemic.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res
; 45(12): 2560-2568, 2021 12.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1596023
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
There are concerns that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may increase drinking, but most accounts to date are cross-sectional studies of self-attributions about alcohol-related impacts and the accuracy of those perceptions has not been investigated. The current study examined the correspondence between self-attributions of pandemic-related changes in drinking and longitudinally-measured changes in drinking and alcohol-related consequences in a sample of emerging adults.METHODS:
In an existing ongoing longitudinal study on alcohol misuse (≥1 heavy episodic drinking day/month) in emerging adults, 473 individuals (Mage = 23.8; 41.7% male) received a supplemental assessment from June 17th to July 1st, 2020, during public health restrictions in Ontario, Canada. These intrapandemic data were matched to the most recent assessment prior to the pandemic (~8 months earlier). Self-attributions about changes in drinking were assessed globally (i.e., increases/decreases/no change) and with higher resolution questions clarifying the magnitude of changes.RESULTS:
Global self-attributions about changes in drinking substantively paralleled longitudinal changes in weekly drinking days (DD). In the longitudinal data, individuals' who self-reported increases in drinking exhibited significant increases; individuals' who self-reported decreases exhibited significant decreases; and individuals who self-reported no change exhibited nonsignificant changes. Higher resolution items likewise revealed longitudinal patterns of weekly drinking that were substantively consistent with self-attributions. Heavy DD and alcohol-related consequences exhibited similar patterns, but only individuals who self-reported large increases in drinking exhibited increases on these outcomes. Individuals who reported large increases in drinking also exhibited significant increases in depression and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms.CONCLUSIONS:
Self-attributions about drinking closely corresponded to longitudinal changes in drinking, supporting the validity of self-attributions in population-level surveys, particularly in young adults. Notably, a subgroup was identified that exhibited pronounced increases for all alcohol-related outcomes and concurrent increases in internalizing psychopathology.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Alcohol Drinking
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Young adult
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
Alcohol Clin Exp Res
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Acer.14724
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