in drunkenness among (remitted-abstinent) women, whereas perceived stress was associated with increases in drunkenness among (remitted-drinking) men. Further, social disconnection was associated with increases in drunkenness among (remitted-abstinent) women, whereas relationship quality was associated with decreases in drunkenness in (remitted-drinking) men. Past research on individuals with a history of AUD outside the context of the pandemic has found that gender differences regarding risk for recurrence of AUD are related to differential exposure to stressors, interpersonal relationships, and social isolation [21–23]. While this past research generally suggests that women may be more vulnerable to social/relationship stress-related drinking, our findings are less straightforward. Our interpretation of the current study findings is that both men and women in remission from AUD were vulnerable to the social-relationship consequences of the pandemic. It seems that they were most vulnerable to different aspects of these social-relationship consequences; for men increased relationship quality (i.e., “How has the quality of the relationship between you and members of your family changed?” “How has the quality of your relationships with your friends changed?”) was associated with decreases in drunkenness, whereas for women, decreased social connections (i.e., living alone, significantly decreased access to non-family social support, contacts outside the home significantly
