Adolescents’ Alcohol Use and Related Expectancies before and during the Early COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from the Nationwide MyLife Study

Abstract

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> We examined a range of alcohol use indicators among Norwegian adolescents before and during the early COVID-19 pandemic. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> We examined two cohorts of Norwegian 16-year-olds from the nationwide MyLife study who entered high school in fall 2020 (i.e., COVID-19 pandemic cohort; <i>n</i> = 915) and fall 2019/18 (i.e., prepandemic cohort; <i>n</i> = 1,621). Through e-surveys, adolescents reported their past year drinking frequencies and quantities (generating the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Concise; AUDIT-C scores) and completed Social Facilitation (SF) and Tension Reduction (TR) subscales of the Alcohol Outcome Expectancies Scale. Cohort differences across these outcomes were examined with linear and modified Poisson regression models. <b><i>Results:</i></b> There were no cohort differences in the proportion of adolescents who reported drinking in the past year or in drinking/binge drinking frequencies. However, alcohol quantities consumed on a typical drinking day were 1/3 of a drink greater in the COVID-19 cohort than in the prepandemic cohort; aIRR (95% CI) = 1.13 (1.02–1.25). These consumption differences compounded into significantly greater AUDIT-C scores (aIRR [95% CI] = 1.16 [1.02–1.32]) and positive AUDIT-C screens (31.2% vs. 26.4%; aRR [95% CI] = 1.21 [1.07–1.36]) in the COVID-19 cohort. In terms of alcohol-related expectancies, there were no SF differences, but the COVID-19 cohort reported significantly greater TR expectancies; <i>b</i> (95% CI) = 0.11 (0.02–0.20). <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Despite the 2020 lockdown, Norwegian adolescents who started high school during the first pandemic year did not differ from their prepandemic peers in terms of how many of them drank, how often they drank, or in prosocial expectations they had of alcohol use. However, they consumed greater alcohol quantities per drinking day, had greater AUDIT-C scores, and reported greater tension reduction expectations of alcohol use. These results underscore the value of examining adolescents’ alcohol-related behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic above and beyond the basic drinking prevalence and frequencies.