Home > The use of alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks in attempts to restrict alcohol consumption: findings from a cross-sectional survey.

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.


Item Type
Article
Publication Type
International, Open Access, Article
Drug Type
Alcohol
Intervention Type
Prevention, Harm reduction
Date
11 October 2025
Identification #
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105030
Publisher
Elsevier
Volume
145
EndNote

Repository Staff Only: item control page