Young adults reduced drinking during and after pandemic

The research examined the drinking levels and patterns of young adults before, during and after the pandemic. The team found alcohol use and alcohol-related problems substantially decreased in heavy-drinking young adults during the pandemic, and these decreases were still evident as the pandemic began to wane.

The results are available in the May 2 issue of Nature Mental Health.

Kasey Creswell, lead author and associate professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, said, “The pandemic gave us a unique opportunity to see how wide-spread mitigation measures like social distancing and bar/restaurant closures may have affected alcohol consumption.

“We focused on young adults who were engaging in heavy drinking before the onset of the pandemic, and we followed them over time to see if there were any pandemic-related changes to their alcohol consumption and alcohol problems.”