Alcohol Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Self-Reported Changes and Motives for Change

This is a preprint manuscript of an article published by S. Karger AG in European Addiction Research 2021(21), 257-262, https://doi.org/10.1159/000515102, available on https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/515102.Background: In Europe, the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a range of restrictive measures, which may have impacted alcohol consumption. Objectives: We explored perceived changes in alcohol consumption, their association with so-ciodemographic characteristics and past year alcohol con-sumption, and self-reported reasons for change after CO-VID-19 restrictions in Norway. Method: A web-based survey was sent to Norwegians aged 18 years and older in June–July 2020. Respondents reporting any past year alcohol use (n = 1,200) were asked whether they drank less, approximately the same, or more after the COVID-19 restrictions compared to before and reasons for drinking less or more. Results: Al-most a third (29.9%) reported they drank less, whereas 13.3% reported they drank more. Females, younger respondents, and Oslo residents were more likely to report both less and more drinking (p values between 0.001 and 0.029). Past year alcohol use was associated with less drinking (OR = 0.93; p Conclusions: After the COVID-19 restrictions were implemented, a substantial proportion of Norwegians changed their drinking behaviour