Kersbergen, Inge and Oldham, Melissa and Brown, Jamie and Perman-Howe, Parvati and Holmes, John (2025) The use of alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks in attempts to restrict alcohol consumption: findings from a cross-sectional survey. International Journal of Drug Policy, 145, 105030. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105030.
External website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/...
The sale and consumption of alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks (no/lo drinks) has increased substantially in many high-income countries, including Great Britain (GB). Some people report that using no/lo drinks helped them to restrict (i.e., reduce or stop) their drinking. This study investigated the sociodemographic characteristics of people who use no/lo drinks to restrict drinking and whether consuming no/lo drinks in an attempt to restrict drinking was associated with whether an attempt was successful. We analysed four waves of data (2023-2024) from a nationally-representative cross-sectional survey (Alcohol Toolkit Study) with 1022 GB adults (16+) who attempted to restrict drinking in the last year. Among those, 33 % used no/lo drinks to support the attempt and 77 % reported reduced alcohol consumption since the restriction attempt. Using no/lo drinks to restrict drinking was more common among those consuming no/lo drinks at least monthly (OR = 6.34, 95 % CI = 4.63-8.75), and those who attempted to restrict drinking out of concerns about future health problems (OR = 1.77, 95 % CI = 1.27-2.49). There was inconclusive evidence on whether using no/lo drinks to restrict drinking was associated with self-reported success of the restriction attempt (OR = 1.47, 97.5 % CI = 1.00-2.19, BF = 5.43; OR = 1.26, 97.5 % CI = 0.81-2.00, BF = 1.48). Given the inconclusive association between the use of no/lo and success of the restriction attempts, further research is needed to determine whether no/lo use supports reductions in alcohol consumption and to understand underlying causal mechanisms.
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