Kersbergen, Inge;
Oldham, Melissa;
Brown, Jamie;
Perman-Howe, Parvati;
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
, Article 105030. 10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105030.
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Abstract
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 (ORadj = 6.34, 95 % CI = 4.63-8.75), and those who attempted to restrict drinking out of concerns about future health problems (ORadj = 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; ORadj = 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.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | The use of alcohol-free and low alcohol drinks in attempts to restrict alcohol consumption: findings from a cross-sectional survey |
| Location: | Netherlands |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105030 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2025.105030 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. The images or other third-party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Alcohol, Alcohol Toolkit Study, Alcohol reduction, Attempts, Cutting down, Non-alcoholic drinks, Zero-alcohol drinks |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Behavioural Science and Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10215801 |
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