Dynamic Changes in Drinking Behaviour among Subpopulations of Youth during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Prospective Cohort Study
Objective: Youth drinking is highly heterogenous, and subpopulations representing different alcohol use patterns may have responded differently to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined changing patterns of alcohol use in subpopulations of the youth population over the first two years of the pan...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Healthcare |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/13/1945 |
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| author | Mahmood R. Gohari Thepikaa Varatharajan James MacKillop Scott T. Leatherdale |
| author_facet | Mahmood R. Gohari Thepikaa Varatharajan James MacKillop Scott T. Leatherdale |
| author_sort | Mahmood R. Gohari |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective: Youth drinking is highly heterogenous, and subpopulations representing different alcohol use patterns may have responded differently to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined changing patterns of alcohol use in subpopulations of the youth population over the first two years of the pandemic. Method: We used linked survey data from 5367 Canadian secondary school students who participated in three consecutive waves of the COMPASS study between 2018/19 and 2020/21. Latent transition analysis (LTA) was used to identify patterns of alcohol use based on the frequency of drinking and frequency of binge drinking and to estimate the probability of transitioning between identified patterns. Results: LTA identified five patterns of alcohol use each representing a unique subpopulation: abstainer, occasional drinker-no binging, occasional binge drinker, monthly binge drinker, weekly binge drinker. Probability of being engaged in binge drinking for a subpopulation of occasional drinkers pre-pandemic was 61%, which reduced to 43% during the early-pandemic period. A lower proportion of occasional binge drinkers reported moving to monthly or weekly binge drinking. Female occasional drinkers were more likely to move to binge drinking patterns during the pandemic than males. Conclusions: Less frequent drinking and younger students were more likely to reduce their drinking and binge drinking than more established drinkers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding of heterogenous patterns of alcohol drinking and different responses to public health crises may inform future preventive programs tailored to target subpopulations more effectively. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:40:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-226ba0a661a142a4be54ce54f19bf980 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9032 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:40:45Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Healthcare |
| spelling | doaj.art-226ba0a661a142a4be54ce54f19bf9802023-11-18T16:37:22ZengMDPI AGHealthcare2227-90322023-07-011113194510.3390/healthcare11131945Dynamic Changes in Drinking Behaviour among Subpopulations of Youth during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Prospective Cohort StudyMahmood R. Gohari0Thepikaa Varatharajan1James MacKillop2Scott T. Leatherdale3School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, CanadaSchool of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, CanadaPeter Boris Centre for Addictions Research, St. Joseph’s Healthcare and McMaster University, 100 West 5th Street, Hamilton, ON L8P 3R2, CanadaSchool of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, CanadaObjective: Youth drinking is highly heterogenous, and subpopulations representing different alcohol use patterns may have responded differently to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined changing patterns of alcohol use in subpopulations of the youth population over the first two years of the pandemic. Method: We used linked survey data from 5367 Canadian secondary school students who participated in three consecutive waves of the COMPASS study between 2018/19 and 2020/21. Latent transition analysis (LTA) was used to identify patterns of alcohol use based on the frequency of drinking and frequency of binge drinking and to estimate the probability of transitioning between identified patterns. Results: LTA identified five patterns of alcohol use each representing a unique subpopulation: abstainer, occasional drinker-no binging, occasional binge drinker, monthly binge drinker, weekly binge drinker. Probability of being engaged in binge drinking for a subpopulation of occasional drinkers pre-pandemic was 61%, which reduced to 43% during the early-pandemic period. A lower proportion of occasional binge drinkers reported moving to monthly or weekly binge drinking. Female occasional drinkers were more likely to move to binge drinking patterns during the pandemic than males. Conclusions: Less frequent drinking and younger students were more likely to reduce their drinking and binge drinking than more established drinkers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding of heterogenous patterns of alcohol drinking and different responses to public health crises may inform future preventive programs tailored to target subpopulations more effectively.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/13/1945secondary school studentsdevelopmental trajectorybinge drinkinglatent transition analysisquasi-experiment |
| spellingShingle | Mahmood R. Gohari Thepikaa Varatharajan James MacKillop Scott T. Leatherdale Dynamic Changes in Drinking Behaviour among Subpopulations of Youth during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Prospective Cohort Study Healthcare secondary school students developmental trajectory binge drinking latent transition analysis quasi-experiment |
| title | Dynamic Changes in Drinking Behaviour among Subpopulations of Youth during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Prospective Cohort Study |
| title_full | Dynamic Changes in Drinking Behaviour among Subpopulations of Youth during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Prospective Cohort Study |
| title_fullStr | Dynamic Changes in Drinking Behaviour among Subpopulations of Youth during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Prospective Cohort Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dynamic Changes in Drinking Behaviour among Subpopulations of Youth during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Prospective Cohort Study |
| title_short | Dynamic Changes in Drinking Behaviour among Subpopulations of Youth during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Prospective Cohort Study |
| title_sort | dynamic changes in drinking behaviour among subpopulations of youth during the covid 19 pandemic a prospective cohort study |
| topic | secondary school students developmental trajectory binge drinking latent transition analysis quasi-experiment |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/13/1945 |
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