Table 1.
Description of sample for heavy risk drinkers compared to low- or moderate-risk drinkers and for change in alcohol consumption during COVID-19.
| Variables | Total sample (n = 2175) | WHO risk drinking level (n = 2171) |
Change in alcohol use (n = 2154) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High-risk drinkers (n = 222) | Low- or moderate- risk drinkers (n = 1949) | pa | Increased alcohol use (n = 775) | Did not increase alcohol use (n = 1379) | pa | ||
| Demographics | |||||||
| Age, mean ± SD | 37.8 ± 12.8 | 36.0 ± 11.2 | 37.9 ± 12.9 | 0.018 | 36.9 ± 11.6 | 38.1 ± 13.2 | 0.032 |
| Sex, n (%) | 0.021 | 0.399 | |||||
| Cisgender man | 225 (10.3) | 11 (5.0) | 213 (10.9) | 74 (9.6) | 149 (10.8) | ||
| Cisgender woman | 1858 (85.4) | 201 (90.5) | 1654 (84.9) | 672 (86.7) | 1165 (84.5) | ||
| Transgender/nonbinary | 92 (4.2) | 10 (4.5) | 82 (4.2) | 29 (3.7) | 63 (4.6) | ||
| Race/ethnicity, n (%) | 0.710 | 0.110 | |||||
| Non-Latino white | 1896 (87.2) | 195 (87.8) | 1698 (87.1) | 694 (89.5) | 1187 (86.1) | ||
| Latino | 117 (5.4) | 10 (4.5) | 107 (5.5) | 39 (5.0) | 77 (5.6) | ||
| Non-Latino Black | 33 (1.5) | 2 (0.9) | 31 (1.6) | 6 (0.8) | 27 (2.0) | ||
| Non-Latino Asian | 123 (5.7) | 14 (6.3) | 108 (5.5) | 35 (4.5) | 83 (6.0) | ||
| Biracial | 3 (0.1) | 0 (0.0) | 3 (0.2) | 1 (0.1) | 2 (0.1) | ||
| Did not respond | 3 (0.1) | 1 (0.5) | 2 (0.1) | 0 (0.0) | 3 (0.2) | ||
| Sexual identity, n (%) | 0.022 | 0.148 | |||||
| Heterosexual | 1271 (58.4) | 108 (48.6) | 1162 (59.6) | 431 (55.6) | 823 (59.7) | ||
| Mostly heterosexual | 411 (18.9) | 53 (23.9) | 357 (18.3) | 166 (21.4) | 244 (17.7) | ||
| Lesbian/gay | 125 (5.7) | 16 (7.2) | 108 (5.5) | 50 (6.5) | 75 (5.4) | ||
| Bisexual | 242 (11.1) | 33 (14.9) | 208 (10.7) | 88 (11.4) | 153 (11.1) | ||
| Other | 118 (5.4) | 12 (5.4) | 106 (5.4) | 37 (4.8) | 79 (5.7) | ||
| Did not respond | 8 (0.4) | 0 (0.0) | 8 (0.4) | 3 (0.4) | 2 (0.1) | ||
| Education level, n (%) | 0.014 | 0.056 | |||||
| High school or less | 32 (1.5) | 2 (0.9) | 29 (1.5) | 5 (0.6) | 25 (1.8) | ||
| Technical/vocational schooling beyond high school | 21 (1.0) | 4 (1.8) | 17 (0.9) | 6 (0.8) | 15 (1.1) | ||
| Some college or currently in college (but no degree) | 190 (8.7) | 27 (12.2) | 162 (8.3) | 52 (6.7) | 135 (9.8) | ||
| Associate's degree | 75 (3.4) | 10 (4.5) | 64 (3.3) | 23 (3.0) | 48 (3.5) | ||
| Four-year college degree | 597 (27.4) | 64 (28.8) | 533 (27.3) | 215 (27.7) | 378 (27.4) | ||
| In graduate school | 223 (10.3) | 25 (11.3) | 198 (10.2) | 88 (11.4) | 132 (9.6) | ||
| Graduate or professional beyond four-year degree | 700 (32.2) | 68 (30.6) | 631 (32.4) | 263 (33.9) | 434 (31.5) | ||
| Doctorate or equivalent | 337 (15.5) | 22 (9.9) | 315 (16.2) | 123 (15.9) | 212 (15.4) | ||
| Region, n (%) | 0.592 | 0.640 | |||||
| Northeast | 603 (27.7) | 61 (27.5) | 540 (27.7) | 215 (27.7) | 380 (27.6) | ||
| Midwest | 478 (22.0) | 53 (23.9) | 424 (21.8) | 159 (20.5) | 314 (22.8) | ||
| South | 579 (26.6) | 63 (28.4) | 515 (26.4) | 214 (27.6) | 359 (26.0) | ||
| West | 514 (23.6) | 45 (20.3) | 469 (24.1) | 187 (24.1) | 325 (23.6) | ||
| Did not respond | 1 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.1) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.1) | ||
| Live with partner, n (%) | 0.145 | <0.001 | |||||
| Yes | 1322 (60.8) | 125 (56.3) | 1195 (61.3) | 513 (66.2) | 799 (57.9) | ||
| No | 762 (35.0) | 89 (40.1) | 671 (34.4) | 232 (29.9) | 522 (37.9) | ||
| Other | 53 (2.4) | 3 (1.4) | 50 (2.6) | 16 (2.1) | 37 (2.7) | ||
| Did not respond | 38 (1.7) | 5 (2.3) | 33 (1.7) | 14 (1.8) | 21 (1.5) | ||
| Economic and other stressors early in the COVID-19 pandemic | |||||||
| Household job loss or reduction, n (%) | 0.012 | 0.688 | |||||
| Yes | 729 (33.5) | 91 (40.1) | 636 (32.6) | 264 (34.1) | 458 (33.2) | ||
| No | 1446 (66.5) | 131 (59.0) | 1313 (67.4) | 511 (65.9) | 921 (66.8) | ||
| Difficulty purchasing food, medicine or other supplies, n (%) | 0.162 | 0.021 | |||||
| Yes | 1308 (60.1) | 142 (64.0) | 1163 (59.7) | 491 (63.4) | 804 (58.3) | ||
| No | 865 (39.8) | 78 (35.1) | 786 (40.3) | 283 (36.5) | 574 (41.6) | ||
| Did not respond | 2 (0.1) | 2 (0.9) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.1) | 1 (0.1) | ||
| Mental health measures | |||||||
| Previous mental health diagnosis, n (%) | 0.069 | 0.686 | |||||
| Yes | 1224 (56.3) | 137 (61.7) | 1087 (55.8) | 439 (56.6) | 772 (56.0) | ||
| No | 914 (42.0) | 80 (36.0) | 830 (42.6) | 320 (41.3) | 584 (42.3) | ||
| Did not respond | 37 (1.7) | 5 (2.3) | 32 (1.6) | 16 (2.1) | 23 (1.7) | ||
| Previous substance use disorder diagnosis, n (%)b | 0.855 | ||||||
| Yes | 43 (3.5) | 10 (7.3) | 33 (3.0) | 0.011 | 15 (3.4) | 28 (3.6) | |
| No | 1179 (96.3) | 127 (92.7) | 1052 (96.8) | 423 (96.4) | 744 (96.5) | ||
| Did not respond | 2 (0.2) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (0.3) | 1 (0.2) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| Number of drinks on an average day, mean ± SD | 1.1 ± 2.7 | 4.3 ± 3.0 | 0.6 ± 0.9 | <0.001 | 2.2 ± 1.5 | 0.8 ± 1.5 | <0.001 |
| Risk drinking level, n (%) | – | <0.001 | |||||
| High | 222 (10.2) | – | – | 163 (21.0) | 59 (4.3) | ||
| Low or moderate | 1949 (89.6) | – | – | 610 (78.7) | 1318 (95.6) | ||
| Did not respond | 4 (0.2) | – | – | 2 (0.3) | 2 (0.1) | ||
| Depressive symptoms (CES-D; range: 0–30), mean ± SD | 11.2 ± 6.4 | 13.0 ± 6.9 | 11.0 ± 6.3 | <0.001 | 12.0 ± 6.1 | 10.7 ± 6.6 | <0.001 |
| Stress (SIC; range: 18–72), mean ± SD | 40.1 ± 8.0 | 41.1 ± 8.5 | 40.0 ± 7.9 | 0.051 | 40.6 ± 7.5 | 39.8 ± 8.1 | 0.015 |
| Boredom (MSBS; range: 1–7), mean ± SD | 4.2 ± 1.3 | 4.5 ± 1.3 | 4.2 ± 1.3 | 0.002 | 4.4 ± 1.2 | 4.1 ± 1.3 | <0.001 |
Note: High-risk drinking was defined as a daily average of ≥4 drinks for men and ≥ 3 drinks for women. Cisgender refers to sex assigned at birth being consistent with gender identity.
a
Pearson chi-square test of independence for categorical variables or Welch two sample t-test for continues variables.
b
Question only asked of participants who reported a previous mental health diagnosis (n = 1224).