New Year, New You: a qualitative study of Dry January, self-formation and positive regulation

Abstract

In the last five years, giving up alcohol for January has become a common social practice in the UK. Inspired by Alcohol Concern's Dry January initiative and other related campaigns, an estimated five million UK adults attempted to abstain from alcohol in January 2017 (Alcohol Concern, 2017). Moreover, evaluative research has suggested that a one-month spell of abstinence is an effective way of reducing average, longer-term drinking (De Visser, Robinson & Bond, 2016). However, the popularity and apparent effectiveness of Dry January are not well-understood. This article presents the first qualitative analysis of the meaning and significance of this important new cultural phenomenon. Based on analysis of media and social media content, it examines both how Dry January is managed by Alcohol Concern and how it is experienced by participants. The burgeoning popularity of Dry January is found to result from how this process of temporary abstinence is underpinned by positive regulatory techniques and the salience of embodiment. Consequently, rather than being a simple regime of bodily abstinence and self-control, Dry January should instead be understood as an embodied experience of ethical self-formation. The article also reflects on the implications of this finding for alcohol regulation more widely.

Benefits of temporary alcohol restriction: a feasibility randomized trial

“…This accords well with previous literature on changes to social rituals that are associated with reduction of alcohol consumption [34] and with behaviour change techniques such as behaviour substitution, goal setting and self-monitoring that prompt change in drinking after other interventions [35,36]. Furthermore, many participants perceived health benefits of abstaining from alcohol, as has been reported elsewhere [37], and they reported gaining a better understanding of their drinking and how habitual daily drinking had become. These benefits of abstinence and the techniques that participants reported using to help them to comply with abstinence instructions could be highlighted to participants in any future trial, in order to maximize compliance with abstinence instructions.…”

“…In addition, caution is required before generalizing our findings from a sample of heavy drinking women aged between 40 and 60 to other demographic groups; further work is required to characterize the feasibility of the study procedures in the broader population of alcohol consumers. Our 'complete abstinence' condition should not be seen as directly analogous to participation in organized temporary abstinence campaigns such as Dry January because it lacks the social characteristics, particularly 'social contagion', of those campaigns [37]. In addition, the requirements for participants to regularly engage with the DrinkAware app [38] and to submit regular biochemical verification of their abstinence [39] may have functioned as a powerful alcohol intervention in itself; therefore, one should not assume that the compliance rates reported here would generalize to all participants who attempt to temporarily abstain from alcohol.…”

Voices of Temporary Sobriety – A Diary Study of an Alcohol-Free Month in Hungary

“…On the other hand, alcohol consumption consciousness appears to be more selfreflective attitude according to the analysis of the diaries, and is supportive of the findings by de Visser et al (2016) and Fry (2011). Qualitative analyses by Yeomans (2019) and Cherrier and Gurrieri (2014) are also consistent with the findings of the present study because sober month can help participants to facilitate self-improvement via redefining their relationship toward alcohol (Robert, 2018) and develop techniques and strategies to refuse alcohol (Conroy & de Visser, 2014), and to gain a more complex perspective about drinking in generaleven in cultures where regular consumption is deeply embedded within the society (Pennay et al, 2016).…”

“…These writings assert that one month of alcohol abstinence can lead to significant positive changes in an individual's physical and psychological wellbeing. In a qualitative study, Yeomans claimed that these kinds of programs have fundamental consequences for participants' broader perceptions of their selves which go beyond the physical and psychological effects (Yeomans, 2019). However, adverse results to such challenges also appear in the literature, indicating that temporary alcohol avoidance may lead to rebound effects.…”

Sober Rebels or Good Consumer-Citizens? Anti-Consumption and the ‘Enterprising Self’ in Early Sobriety

“…However, alternative models of 'positive sobriety' have decoupled from a disease model; 'a new sober peer culture' (Herman-Kinney and Kinney, 2013: 93) is reconfiguring sobriety as a lifestyle choice to be publicly celebrated. Examples include the development of the UK-based mindful drinking movement 'Club Soda', the rise of online blogs, communities and social media accounts celebrating sobriety (often managed by women) and the growth in short-term abstinence initiatives such as 'dry months' (Yeomans, 2019). With 21% of the UK's female population reported as not having drunk during the last year in 2017 (Osborne and Cooper, 2018) and declining drinking rates among young people (Pape et al, 2018), we may be seeing something of a cultural shift in relation to drinking and sobriety.…”