A new survey finds college students who moved home due to the COVID-19 pandemic are drinking less alcohol, HealthDay reports.
The survey found that students who used alcohol who moved from living with peers to living with parents decreased the number of days they drank per week, from 3.1 to 2.7. Those who remained living with peers increased drinking days per week from 3 to 3.7. Those who remained with parents increased the number of days they drank from 2 to 3.3, the researchers reported in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
“Drinking is a social behavior for college students, and without social interaction students are less likely to drink heavily,” lead researcher Helene White of the Rutgers University Center of Alcohol & Substance Use Studies said in a news release. “Living with parents may especially interfere with social interaction with peers and thereby be protective against heavy drinking.”