Effects of the COVID-19 mitigation measures on alcohol consumption and binge drinking in college students: a longitudinal survey

The data presented in this study are openly available in FigShare at: 10.6084/m9.figshare.14755278 (accessed on 22 August 2021).To “flatten the curve” of COVID-19 contagion, several countries ordered lockdowns amid the pandemic along with indications on social distancing. These social isolation measures could potentially bring alterations to healthy behavior, including to alcohol consumption. However, there is hardly any scientific evidence of the impact of such measures on alcohol consumption and binge drinking (BD) among young adults, and how they relate to alcohol craving, stress, anxiety, and depression levels. We addressed these questions by conducting a longitudinal study with 146 Portuguese college students—regular binge drinkers (regular BDs), infrequent binge drinkers (infrequent BDs) and non-binge drinkers (non-BDs)—in three moments: before the pandemic (Pre-Lockdown), during lockdown (Lockdown) and 6 months after (Post-Lockdown). Results revealed that regular BDs decreased alcohol use during Lockdown, a change in behavior that was even greater during Post-Lockdown, when regular BDs displayed similar levels of consumption to infrequent/non-BDs. Additionally, alcohol craving and living with friends were predictive of alcohol use during Lockdown, whereas stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms did not contribute to explain changes in drinking behavior. Collectively, the results suggest that BD in young Portuguese college students can be stopped when the contexts in which alcohol intake usually takes place are suppressed, which may have important implications for future prevention and intervention strategies.This study was conducted at the Psychology Research Centre (PSI/01662), School of Psychology, University of Minho, and funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the Portuguese State Budget [Ref.: UIDB/PSI/01662/2020]. This study was also supported by the project PTDC/PSI-ESP/28672/2017, funded by FCT and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). Eduardo López-Caneda and Alberto Crego were supported by the FCT and the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, within the scope of the Individual Call to Scientific Employment Stimulus (CEECIND/02979/2018), and the Transitory Disposition of the Decree No. 57/2016, of 29 August, amended by Law No. 57/2017 of 19 July, respectively. Natália Antunes was supported by a fellowship from the FCT (SFRH/BD/146194/2019) and Rui Rodrigues by a fellowship from the Psychology Research Centre, School of Psychology, University of Minho (UMINHO/BID/2021/19)