Haucke M, Heinzel S, Liu S. Involuntary social isolation and alcohol consumption: an ecological momentary assessment in Germany amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alcohol Alcohol 2024;
59:agad069. [PMID:
37934974 DOI:
10.1093/alcalc/agad069]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2023] [Revised: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023] Open
Abstract
AIMS
Alcohol consumption often occurs in a social setting, which was affected by social distancing measures amid the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In this study, we examine how involuntary social isolation (i.e. comparing a no-lockdown stage with a lockdown stage) affects the association between loneliness, social activities, and drinking behavior.
METHOD
We performed an ecological momentary assessment eight times per day for 7 days amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. We recruited 280 participants and assessed their trait loneliness, daily state loneliness, social activities, and drinking behaviors.
RESULTS
We found that a lockdown condition moderates the association between trait and daily state loneliness and alcohol consumption. During a lockdown stage, trait loneliness was positively associated, whereas state loneliness was negatively associated with alcohol consumption. During a no-lockdown stage, trait and state loneliness were both negatively associated with alcohol consumption. For both no-lockdown and lockdown stages, duration of social interaction, male gender, and weekends was positively associated with alcohol consumption.
CONCLUSION
Our study suggests that an involuntary social isolation condition (i.e. a lockdown stage) changes how trait loneliness is associated with alcohol consumption.
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