A new study has found that the rate of alcohol abuse among adults shoots up the longer they stay at home during the lockdown amid the COVID19 pandemic. The study has shown that each week of lockdown has increased the habit of binge drinking in adults in the US. It might be due to the stress inflicted by the pandemic, said the experts. The findings of this study have been released in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse. This study has been done by scientists from the University of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health in Dallas. As per the experts, around 32 percent of volunteers who have participated in the study have said that they have been involved in binge drinking during the lockdown. Experts have looked at the data of an online survey of around 1982 adults from mid-March to mid-April 2020. This was the time when the authorities had declared a stay at home order during the beginning of the pandemic.
People who have participated in the survey have been 42 years of age on average. Around 89 percent of the participants have been white American and nearly 69 percent of white women have participated in the survey. Experts have divided them into three categories such as binge drinkers, non -binge drinkers, and non-drinkers. They as well have observed how long people have stayed at home during the lockdown. Experts have analyzed the number of family members and kids, participants have been living with. All the participants have been asked whether they have any mental issues or they have dealt with depression in the past. Participants’ income and employment status as well have been important factors in the study. As per the study, on average participants have spent 21 hours at home during the lockdown. Around 72 percent of them have said that they have not gone to work.
For men, having five or more alcohol drinks is defined as binge drinking, whereas for women, having more than four drinks is considered binge drinking. Binge drinking among men and women has increased by 19 percent during each week of the lockdown, said the experts. Increased alcohol intake in binge drinkers has been more than double as compared to people who have not been involved in binge drinking. Individuals who have been drinking excessively during the COVID19 pandemic has said that they have been having at least seven drinks in just two hours on average. While non-binge drinks have had a maximum of two drinks occasionally during the pandemic. Experts have said that extra time spent at home shoots up a life stressor, it affects the drinking habit of people, and the COVID19 pandemic might have worsened this stress.
