Coping with COVID: COVID-19 experiences and drinking to cope

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has been a source of stress that may have increased drinking level overall and, more specifically, drinking to cope motivation. The current study tests whether specific domains of pandemic-related experiences are related to drinking to cope motivation and drinking level and whether drinking to cope motivation moderates the association between pandemic experiences and alcohol consumption. Method Participants (N = 292, 57% women) reported on their positive and negative experiences during the pandemic, their drinking to cope motivation, and their typical weekly alcohol consumption. Results Regression analyses revealed that negative emotional health and well-being experiences were related to higher levels of drinking to cope motivation. Negative social activity experiences were related to higher weekly alcohol consumption. In addition, negative home life experiences were related to higher consumption among individuals with high drinking to cope motivation and positive experiences were related to lower consumption among individuals with high drinking to cope motivation. Conclusions These findings underscore the importance of considering the domain of experiences during the current pandemic and future mass crisis events and may provide insight for designing interventions to prevent drinking to cope.