Alcohol use, binge drinking linked to mental health early in the COVID-19 pandemic

Key takeaways:

• Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, normal drinking habits and behaviors were associated with better mental health.
• Drinking more and binge drinking increased the odds for adverse mental health outcomes.

People who increased their alcohol consumption or began binge drinking during the beginning of the pandemic had greater odds of developing mental health disorders, according to findings published in Alcohol and Alcoholism.

Yihua Yue, a PhD student in the School of Public Health and Health Professions at the University at Buffalo, and colleagues created a REDCap online survey that collected data on sociodemographics, COVID-19 infection and quarantine status, behavioral changes and patterns and mental health. The survey was distributed on social media and ResearchMatch from May 13 to Aug. 25, 2020.

Within the survey, participants self-reported alcohol consumption in terms of drinking frequency during the pandemic, drinking amount during events with other alcohol users, change in alcohol consumption during the pandemic and binge drinking frequency, as well as self-reported symptoms of anxiety, depression, stress and PTSD.

A total of 3,623 adults completed the survey, of whom 22.7% had anxiety, 26.7% had depression, 51% had stress and 21.8% had PTSD. During the pandemic, 8% of participants reported a decrease in alcohol consumption from pre-pandemic levels, 41.1% reported not changing their drinking habits, 22.8% reported an increase in drinking and 28.2% reported continuing to abstain from drinking.

People who did not change their drinking habits were less likely to have anxiety (OR = 0.77; 95% CI, 0.63-0.95), depression (OR = 0.72; 95% CI, 0.59-0.88), stress (OR = 0.78; 95% CI, 0.66-0.93) and PTSD (OR = 0.73; 95% CI, 0.59-0.9) compared with abstainers. People who increased their alcohol consumption during the pandemic had greater odds of PTSD compared with abstainers (OR = 1.28; 95% CI, 1.02-1.61).

Additionally, people who increased drinking had greater odds of anxiety (OR = 1.58; 95% CI, 1.27-1.96), depression (OR = 1.48; 95% CI, 1.2-1.82), stress (OR = 1.46; 95% CI, 1.22-1.75) and PTSD (OR = 1.79; 95% CI, 1.49-2.22) compared with drinkers who did not change their drinking habits.

Compared with non-drinkers, people who drank at least weekly had lower odds of depression (OR = 0.74; 95% CI, 0.61-0.91), as did people who drank 10 or more drinks per month (OR = 0.75; 95% CI, 0.62-0.92). Compared with people who did not binge drink, those who did were more likely to have depression (OR = 1.3; 95% CI, 1.06-1.59) and stress (OR = 1.28; 95% CI, 1.06-1.54).

Analyses of participants who increased their alcohol consumption during the pandemic revealed that the association with stress was stronger for participants reporting non-white race and reporting worries about money.

Associations between binge drinking and depression and PTSD were stronger for female participants and participants who reported poor social support. The association between binge drinking and anxiety was stronger among people who had worries about food and grocery items.

“During the pandemic, people went through so many behavioral changes,” Lina Mu, MD, senior study author and an associate professor of epidemiology and environmental health in the School of Public Health and Health Professions at the University at Buffalo, said in a press release. “It is very critical to understand how those changes influence mental health so that we can guide the public to be better prepared in preventing mental health problems. This is a very complicated issue, and we are still at the early stage of addressing it.”

References:

• Study reveals insights on pandemic-related drinking and mental health. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/984863. Published April 3, 2023. Accessed April 7, 2023.
• Yue Y, et al. Alcohol Alcohol. 2023;doi:10.1093/alcalc/agad011.