Psychological Stressors Predicting Increased Drinking During the COVID-19 Crisis: A Longitudinal National Survey Study of Workers in Finland

Abstract

Aims The global crisis caused by the outbreak of a novel coronavirus rapidly increased working remotely in many countries. The aim of this study was to analyze psychological stressors predicting increased drinking during the COVID-19 crisis. Also, individual and socio-demographic differences were analyzed. Methods A nationally representative sample of Finnish workers (N = 1308) was collected before the crisis in September–October 2019 and 82.02% of them responded to a follow-up survey conducted in March–April 2020. Increased drinking was the outcome variable and it was measured with the AUDIT-C before and during the COVID-19 crisis. Predictors measured before the crisis included cyberbullying victimization at work, psychological distress, burnout and work climate. Additional measures included personality factors, socio-demographic factors and occupational information. Results One-fourth of Finnish workers (25.37%) reported increased drinking during the COVID-19 crisis. Cyberbullying victimization at work and psychological distress before the crisis predicted increased drinking during the crisis. Conscientious workers and those working in educational and health and welfare sectors were less likely to increase drinking, while increased drinking was most common among workers under 30 years of age. Conclusions Psychological stressors are risk factors for increased drinking in unusual times such as the COVID-19 crisis. Cyberbullying victimization at work and psychological distress were found as major risk factors. The results suggest that preventive work should be done at workplaces. This is particularly important if alcohol consumption is used as a means of coping during a stressful time.

The early impact of COVID-19 on the incidence, prevalence, and severity of alcohol use and other drugs: A systematic review

“…Twenty of these papers included a single question such as, “Since the start of the pandemic, has your alcohol use increased, decreased, or stayed the same?” In general, most papers ( n = 24) reported both increased and decreased alcohol use among different segments of the population. An equal number of papers ( n = 11) reported that more people increased their drinking ( Bartoszek et al, 2020 , Every-Palmer et al, 2020 , Górnicka et al, 2020 , Grossman et al, 2020 , Huckle et al, 2020 , Rolland et al, 2020 , Stanton et al, 2020 , Tran et al, 2020 , Vanderbruggen et al, 2020 , Weerakoon et al, 2020 , Zajacova et al, 2020 ), and decreased their drinking during the pandemic at the population level ( Alpers et al, 2021 , Chodkiewicz et al, 2020 , Constant et al, 2020 , Dozois, 2021 , Koopmann et al, 2020 , Kriaucioniene et al, 2020 , Oksanen et al, 2021 , Rodriguez et al, 2020 , Scarmozzino and Visioli, 2020 , Sidor and Rzymski, 2020 , Szajnoga et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Twenty studies reported a change in frequency, amount, or severity of alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to pre-pandemic use ( Alpers et al, 2021 , Ammar et al, 2020 , Barbosa et al, 2021 , Błaszczyk-Bębenek et al, 2020 , Boschuetz et al, 2020 , Callinan et al, 2021 , Callinan et al, 2021 , Đogaš et al, 2020 , Huckle et al, 2020 , Jackson et al, 2021 , Newby et al, 2020 , Niedzwiedz et al, 2021 , Oksanen et al, 2021 , Rolland et al, 2020 , Sallie et al, 2020 , Vanderbruggen et al, 2020 , Villanueva et al, 2021 , Wardell et al, 2020 , Weerakoon et al, 2020 , Winkler et al, 2020 ), two studies compared alcohol use at two or more time points during the pandemic ( Killgore et al, 2021 , Pollard et al, 2020 ), and one study compared the severity of alcohol use in Hubei province, the epicenter of COVID-19, compared with respondents from other provinces in China ( Ahmed et al, 2020 ).…”

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown on alcohol use disorders and complications

“…A summary of studies from different countries (China, Finland, Belgium, Chile, US, Poland) reports increased alcohol consumption during lockdown compared to prelockdown [ 22 , 24 , 26 – 30 ]. Specifically, many studies report an increase in binge drinking, as well as solitary drinking [ 27 , 29 , 31 , 32 ▪ , 33 , 34 ]. Although some studies observed an increase in drinking among women [ 27 , 35 ], others did not observe gender differences in alcohol use patterns [ 36 ].…”

“…A summary of factors associated with increased alcohol use include psychological distress related to COVID-19 [ 32 ▪ , 33 , 35 , 39 ], increased availability of free time [ 40 ], misinformation about alcohol, heavy drinking prepandemic, job loss, eating more, changes in sleep, higher anxiety and depression [ 41 – 44 ], living with children [ 45 ], reduced physical activity [ 46 ], loneliness, [ 47 ], cyberbullying, victimisation at work [ 33 ], lower social connectedness and having one child under the age of 18 years [ 48 ]. In a US-based online survey, increase in alcohol-related problems was independent of the amount of alcohol consumption [ 29 ].…”

Neuropsychiatrische Aspekte von COVID-19 – Eine narrative Übersicht

“…Bemerkenswert war dabei, dass die Erhöhung vorwiegend bei Personen mit einem schon bestehenden Binge-Drinking Verhalten beobachtet wurde [145]. Weitere Studien fanden eine Zunahme des Alkoholkonsums zwischen 17 und 29 %, wobei verschiedene Formen psychischer Belastungen jeweils deutlich mit einer Zunahme des Alkoholkonsum assoziiert waren [146,147]. Besonders deutlich zeigte sich das in einer US-amerikanischen Untersuchung, in der die stärksten Zunahmen des Konsums bei Personen mit komorbider Depression (41 % Steigerung) und Angststörungen (59 % Steigerung) zu finden waren [148].…”