Faculty Research & Scholarly Work
Young Adults Reduced Drinking During and After Pandemic
Kasey Creswell, associate professor of psychology, conducted a study that examined drinking levels and patterns of young adults before, during and after the pandemic. Creswell and the team of researchers found alcohol use and alcohol- related problems substantially decreased in heavy-drinking young adults during the pandemic, and these decreases were still evident as the pandemic began to wane. Unlike most prior studies of drinking habits during the pandemic, this study prospectively examined the drinking patterns of 234 heavy-drinking young adults ages 21 to 29 years from before to well after the onset of the pandemic. According to Creswell, the results may, in part, be explained by the environment. Alcohol was still available to these young adults during the pandemic, but the context in which they were drinking likely changed for most of them. Due to pandemic restrictions, they weren’t able to drink with friends at parties or in bars, contexts that are usually associated with heavy alcohol use in young adults.
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2024 YEAR IN REVIEW
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