Alcohol use during the great recession of 2008-2009.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to assess changes in alcohol use in the USA during the Great Recession.


METHODS
Drinking participation, drinking frequency, drinking intensity, total alcohol consumption and frequency of binge drinking were assessed in a nationally representative sample of 2,050,431 US women and men aged 18 and older, interviewed between 2006 and 2010.


RESULTS
The prevalence of any alcohol use significantly declined during the economic recession, from 52.0% in 2006-2007 to 51.6% in 2008-2009 (P < 0.05), corresponding to 880,000 fewer drinkers (95% confidence interval [CI] 140,000 to 1.6 million). There was an increase, however, in the prevalence of frequent binging, from 4.8% in 2006-2007 to 5.1% in 2008-2009 (P < 0.01), corresponding to 770,000 more frequent bingers (95% CI 390,000 to 1.1 million). Non-Black, unmarried men under 30 years, who recently became unemployed, were at highest risk for frequent binging.


CONCLUSIONS
During the Great Recession there was an increase in abstention from alcohol and a rise in frequent binging.
Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Building 1, 11th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, USA. jbor@hsph.harvard.edu
Jacob
J
Bor
Sanjay
S
Basu
Adam
A
Coutts
Martin
M
McKee
David
D
Stuckler
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D057172:Economic Recession / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004651:Employment; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult