LAUSR

Hazardous alcohol use correlates with greater insomnia, potentially leading to increased use of sleep medications. However, combining sleep medications with alcohol can yield serious and even fatal health consequences. We examined the relationship between alcohol use and sleep medication use during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and hypothesized that greater alcohol use would correlate with increased use of sleep medication. N=3,930 English-speaking adults from across the U.S. (Mage=37.2, SD=12.4) completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) at one of four timepoints (April, July, and October of 2020 and in January of 2021). Individual use of sleep aids was measured by ranking them from 0 (none) to 2 (once or twice a week or more). Additionally, alcohol use was ranked from 0-3 where a higher score indicated higher alcohol dependence. Alcohol use was modestly but positively correlated with sleep medication use (r = 0.183, p< 0.001). A chi-square analysis showed that the proportion of people reporting heavy use of sleep medications increased among those reporting greater severity of hazardous alcohol use (p< 0.001). Specifically, 21.8% of those in the non-hazardous drinking category reported heavy use of sleep medications, while 25.3% of those in the hazardous drinking group described heavy sleep medication use. For those meeting criteria for probable alcohol dependence, 39.7% reported heavy sleep medication use, and 57.3% meeting criteria for severe alcohol dependence reported heavy sleep medication use. We found that individuals who scored higher on alcohol use scored higher on sleep medication use, consistent with our hypothesis. These results show that during the COVID-19 pandemic, hazardous alcohol use and sleep medication use were significantly associated. Such findings are concerning, because when combined, alcohol and sleep medications can lead to serious health consequences, including impaired neurocognitive functioning, sleep disruption, parasomnias, risk of overdose, and even death. Given the potential severe risks associated with this behavior, increased clinical assessment, monitoring, and counseling about the dangers of mixing sleep medication with alcohol is warranted. Further work should identify the causal direction and potential mediating factors driving these associations.