Center for Community Health, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA.
Department of Epidemiology, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Alcohol Alcohol. 2023 May 9;58(3):238-246. doi: 10.1093/alcalc/agad008.
To slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus, governments across the globe instituted stay-at-home orders leading to increased stress and social isolation. Not surprisingly, alcohol sales increased during this period. While most studies primarily focused on alcohol consumption among college students or adults, this study investigates alcohol misuse among marginalized youth in the USA. We examined risk factors associated with hazardous alcohol use and binge drinking including risk behaviors, life stressors and demographic characteristics.
In October 2020, youth living with or at high risk for acquiring human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), participating in community-based research to improve HIV prevention and care, were invited to complete an online survey to assess the impact of the stay-at-home orders on multiple aspects of their daily life.
Respondents (n = 478) were on average 23 years old; cisgender (84%), not-heterosexual (86.6%), Latino or Black/African American (73%) and assigned male at birth (83%); 52% reported being employed and 14% reported living with HIV. White participants and those who use drugs had higher odds of hazardous alcohol use and binge drinking, compared with other race categories and non-drug users, respectively.
Contrary to findings from adult studies, we did not observe an increase in hazardous or binge drinking among youth at risk for HIV. Hazardous alcohol use and binge drinking was more likely among White participants, those who use drugs and those who were hazardous/binge drinkers prior to the COVID-19 lockdown, which points to the importance of identifying and treating youth who misuse alcohol early to prevent future alcohol misuse.
为了减缓 COVID-19 病毒的传播，全球各国政府都实施了居家令，这导致了人们的压力和社会隔离感增加。毫不奇怪，在此期间，酒精销售量有所增加。尽管大多数研究主要集中在大学生或成年人的饮酒行为上，但本研究调查了美国边缘青少年的酒精滥用问题。我们研究了与危险饮酒和狂饮有关的风险因素，包括风险行为、生活压力源和人口统计学特征。
在 2020 年 10 月，参与基于社区的研究以改善艾滋病毒预防和护理的、感染艾滋病毒或有感染风险的青年被邀请完成在线调查，以评估居家令对他们日常生活多个方面的影响。
受访者（n=478）平均年龄为 23 岁；跨性别者（84%）、非异性恋者（86.6%）、拉丁裔或黑人和非裔美国人（73%）以及出生时被指定为男性（83%）；52%报告有工作，14%报告感染了艾滋病毒。与其他种族群体和非吸毒者相比，白人参与者和吸毒者更有可能出现危险饮酒和狂饮行为。
与成人研究结果相反，我们没有观察到感染艾滋病毒风险较高的青少年中危险或狂饮饮酒行为增加。危险饮酒和狂饮行为在白人参与者、吸毒者以及在 COVID-19 封锁前有危险/狂饮饮酒行为的人群中更为常见，这表明需要早期识别和治疗滥用酒精的青少年，以预防未来的酒精滥用。
