Factors associated with alcohol and tobacco consumption as a coping strategy to deal with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and lockdown in Spain

• Published in: Addictive behaviors 2021-10, Vol.121, p.107003-107003, Article 107003
• Main Authors: Martínez-Cao, Clara, de la Fuente-Tomás, Lorena, Menéndez-Miranda, Isabel, Velasco, Ángela, Zurrón-Madera, Paula, García-Álvarez, Leticia, Sáiz, Pilar A., Garcia-Portilla, María Paz, Bobes, Julio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Alcohol; Anxiety; Communicable Disease Control; Coping strategies; COVID-19; Cross-Sectional Studies; Depression; Female; Humans; Male; Pandemics; Psychological impact; SARS-CoV-2; Spain - epidemiology; Stress, Psychological - epidemiology; Substance use; Surveys and Questionnaires; Tobacco; Tobacco Use - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0306-4603; 1873-6327
• DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107003

•Previous data suggest an increase in alcohol and tobacco consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown.•Little is known about the specific factors that may increase the use of of alcohol and tobacco to cope with the COVID-19 outbreak.•We identify sociodemographic, clinical, and psychological factors associated with alcohol and tobacco consumption as a coping method.•These findings can help develop specific intervention programs that could minimize negative long-term outcomes of substance use after this outbreak. To provide a population-based characterization of sociodemographic and clinical risk and protective factors associated with consumption of alcohol, tobacco, or both as a coping strategy in a sample of the Spanish general population during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cross-sectional study based on an online snowball recruiting questionnaire. The survey consisted of an ad hoc questionnaire comprising clinical and sociodemographic information and the Spanish versions of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and the Impact of Event Scale (IES). The final sample included 21,207 individuals [mean age (SD) = 39.7 (14.0); females: 14,768 (69.6%)]. Up to 2867 (13.5%) of participants reported using alcohol, 2545 (12%) tobacco and 1384 (6.5%) both substances as a strategy to cope with the pandemic. Sex-related factors were associated with alcohol consumption as a coping strategy [female, OR = 0.600, p