Alcohol use, and its association with impulsivity, negative emotionality and emotional regulation, during the COVID-19 related lockdown in Argentina.

SALGUERO, AGUSTIN; RIVAROLA MONTEJANO, GABRIELA; MICHELINI, YANINA; PILATTI, ANGELINA; PAUTASSI, RICARDO M.

Simposio; 46th annual symposium of the Kettil Bruun Society; 2021

Introduction: Alcohol use depends on access to the social contexts in which the drug isconsumed; and is modulated by psychological distress. The lockdown instantiated tomitigate the spread of COVID-19 in Argentina -lasting from March to July 2020 --affected these variables. This study assessed occurrence and frequency of alcohol use,and their association with impulsivity traits, psychological distress symptoms andemotional regulation abilities, in Argentinean citizens.Methods: An online survey conducted on July 2020 asked participants (n = 1578, aged18 to 70 years) on frequency and occurrence of alcohol use on each day of a typicaldrinking week of the last two months, anxiety, stress and depression symptoms (DASS-21), impulsivity-like traits (B- UPPS-P) and emotional regulation (ERQ). Descriptive andregression analyses were conducted.Results: Prevalence of alcohol use was 80.1%, and 20.1% reported drinking on 30 ormore of the last 60 days (9.3% reported circa daily drinking). Almost 20% reportedsevere/extreme depression, which was associated at the bivariate level with weekdaydrinking. Sex, age, depression scores, negative urgency and lack of premeditationjointly explained 13% of the volume of alcohol ingested; whereas sex, age, lack ofpremeditation and lower levels of emotional regulation were associated with greaterfrequency of alcohol use.Conclusions: The instauration of a nation-wide lockdown in Argentina was associatedwith high levels of psychological distress. Those with high levels of depression, greaterimpulsivity-like traits or lower emotional regulation abilities seemed to be at greater riskof incurring in alcoholdrinking during this period.