Alcohol Use and Its Related Psychosocial Effects during the Prolonged COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Survey

We conducted a large-scale survey in the Japanese population, about one year after the initial declaration of the state of emergency, to investigate alcohol use under the prolonged coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its related psychosocial and demographic characteristics. The survey was conducted online between 15 and 20 June 2021. A total of 11,427 participants were included in the analysis (48.5% female, 48.82 ± 13.30 years, range = 20–90 years). Compared with females, males were more prevalent in the hazardous user and the potential alcoholism group and were less prevalent in the no alcohol-related problem group. However, the prevalence of potential alcoholism among the participants in our study was higher than that previously reported. This trend was particularly pronounced in women. The presence of potential alcoholism was related to a deteriorated psychological status, particularly depression and anxiety, and various difficulties in their daily lives due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the future, intervention methods and systems should be developed to provide optimal assistance to people with psychological problems who are vulnerable to alcohol-related problems during the COVID-19 pandemic, while conducting further long-term follow-up studies.

Relationship status and drinking-related outcomes in a community sample of lesbian and bisexual women

Although marriage tends to be protective against hazardous drinking among women in the general population, few studies have compared drinking rates, levels, or problems based on relationship status among sexual minority women (SMW; lesbian, bisexual). We examined associations between relationship status (committed relationship/cohabiting; committed/not cohabiting; single) and past-year drinking outcomes using data from a diverse sample of 696 SMW interviewed in wave 3 of the 17-year longitudinal Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women study. The mean age of SMW in the sample was 40.01 ( SD = 14.15; range 18–82). A little more than one-third (37%) of the sample was White, 36% was African American, and 23% Latina; 4% reported another or multirace/ethnicity. Compared to SMW in committed cohabiting relationships, single SMW were significantly more likely to be heavy drinkers. SMW in committed noncohabiting relationships were more likely to report alcohol-related problem consequences, and both single SMW and those in committed noncohabiting relationships were more likely to report one or more symptoms of potential alcohol dependence. Findings underscore the importance of exploring relationship factors that may influence drinking and drinking-related problems among SMW.

Knowledge and attitude of women towards alcohol use and related problems in the Eastern part of Nepal

Introduction: Exploring the levels of knowledge and attitude of women towards alcohol use and related problems will enable a more efficient process of awareness creation and it will allow the program to be tailored more appropriately to the needs of the community. Females with alcohol problems are severely impaired; have adverse consequences and more alcohol related physical, psychological and social harm.Objective: To explore the knowledge and attitude of women towards alcohol use and related problems.Method: A hospital based cross sectional descriptive study. The selected participants were consecutive female patients with alcohol related problem who came under the health care service of psychiatry, consultation liaison and other departments of BPKIHS, Dharan scoring two or more scores in T-ACE questionnaire. The patients in abstinence for two or less than two months, more than 16 years of age and who gave informed written consent were included in the study. A semi- structured proforma was designed to collect the data.. Mean, Standard deviation and percentage was used for analysis.Results: A total of 49 female patients participated in the study after giving their written informed consent. The overall knowledge of the respondents regarding the alcohol use was inadequate as only 8 subjects (16.3%) had adequate knowledge (scored ≥ 60%). The mean score was 21.04±8.48 (43.8±17.6%). Positive attitude was shown by 64.46±21.93%. Negative attitude was shown by 25.76±16.76% and the rest 9.8% gave did not know response.Conclusion: The knowledge among the respondents was inadequate but the attitude towards alcohol use was positive. This indicates need for targeting an effective intervention.

Alcohol consumption among Chilean adolescents: Examining individual, peer, parenting and environmental factors

Sanhueza, G. E., Delva, J., Bares, C. B. & Grogan-Kaylor, A. (2013). Alcohol consumption among Chilean adolescents: Examining individual, peer, parenting and environmental factors. International Journal of Alcohol and Drug Research, 2(1), 89-97. doi: 10.7895/ijadr.v2i1.71 (http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v2i1.71)Aims: This study examined whether adolescents from Santiago, Chile who had never drunk alcohol differed from those who had drunk alcohol but who had never experienced an alcohol-related problem, as well as from those who had drunk and who had experienced at least one alcohol-related problem on a number of variables from four domains - individual, peers, parenting, and environmental.Design: Cross-sectional.Setting: Community based sample.Participants: 909 adolescents from Santiago, Chile.Measurements: Data were analyzed with multinomial logistic regression to compare adolescents who had never drunk alcohol (non-drinkers) with i) those that had drunk but who had experienced no alcohol-related problems (non-problematic drinkers) and ii) those who had drunk alcohol and had experienced at least one alcohol-related problem (problematic drinkers). The analyses included individual, peer, parenting, and environmental factors while controlling for age, sex, and socioeconomic status.Findings: Compared to non-drinkers, both non-problematic and problematic drinkers were older, reported having more friends who drank alcohol, greater exposure to alcohol ads, lower levels of parental monitoring, and more risk-taking behaviors. In addition, problematic drinkers placed less importance on religious faith to make daily life decisions and had higher perceptions of neighborhood crime than non-drinkers.Conclusions: Prevention programs aimed at decreasing problematic drinking could benefit from drawing upon adolescents’ spiritual sources of strength, reinforcing parental tools to monitor their adolescents, and improving environmental and neighborhood conditions.