without a past history of AUD. Among all groups with a history of AUD (including those with AUD symptoms and those remitted from AUD at the start of the pandemic), perceived stress was associated with increases in drunkenness. Among the remitted-abstinent group, essential worker status was associated with increases in drunkenness. These findings suggest that these may be specific areas of focus for designing intervention and prevention strategies aimed at reducing pandemic-related alcohol misuse among this particularly vulnerable group. Further, these findings support prior literature that demonstrates that widespread stressors (e.g., pandemics, terrorist attacks) disproportionately impact the alcohol use and mental health of those with a prior history of problems.
