Cover: Changes in Adult Alcohol Use and Consequences During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the US

Changes in Adult Alcohol Use and Consequences During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the US

Published in: JAMA Network Open, Volume 3, Issue 9 (September 2020). doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.22942

Posted on RAND.org on October 16, 2020

by Michael S. Pollard, Joan S. Tucker, Harold D. Green

As stay-at-home orders began in some US states as a mitigation strategy for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission, Nielsen reported a 54% increase in national sales of alcohol for the week ending March 21, 2020, compared with 1 year before; online sales increased 262% from 2019. Three weeks later, the World Health Organization warned that alcohol use during the pandemic may potentially exacerbate health concerns and risk-taking behaviors. This study examines individual-level changes in alcohol use and consequences associated with alcohol use in US adults, as well as demographic disparities, from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Access further information on this document at JAMA Network Open

Research conducted by

This report is part of the RAND Corporation External publication series. Many RAND studies are published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals, as chapters in commercial books, or as documents published by other organizations.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.