AMES, Iowa -- A new Iowa State University study shows pandemic anxiety is leading to increasing alcohol use by women.
"Things like 'I'm worried about a family member getting sick or dying, I'm worried about myself getting sick or dying, I'm worried about my finances.' says Iowa State University Sociology Professor Susan Stewart. "I found that women who scored higher on that anxiety scale were more likely to have increased their drinking since the pandemic."
Stewart says nearly two-thirds of women in the study reported increased daily drinking, binge drinking, and drinking earlier in the day.
She says she was prompted to do the study after seeing women on social media talking about drinking more after the pandemic started.
"Jokes and memes about mothers drinking in the morning and progressing through the afternoon to deal with remote learning, and all the extra housework, and balancing their lives--using alcohol as a way to cope," Stewart says.
She says increased drinking during the pandemic comes as women face ongoing barriers to getting treatment
"They're less likely to reach out for help, and there's other considerations like 'what will people think of me' and 'I'm worried my children will be taken away from me'--all of those kinds of worries" Stewart says.
She says researchers were already noticing increases in drinking by women even before the pandemic started.
The National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions says between 2002 and 2013 there was a 58 percent increase in high-risk drinking among women, and an 84-percent increase in alcohol use disorder,