Mothers’ and Fathers’ Binge Drinking and Parenting Problems During the Pandemic

Prior research demonstrates connections between stress, parenting demands, and binge drinking behaviors. Yet, most of this research relies on retrospective reports and has not considered how these connections may be further affected by larger societal or even global events, like the COVID-19 pandemic. This study investigated the association between pandemic-related parenting demands and binge drinking, while controlling for pre-pandemic parenting responsibilities. We used three waves of data from the longitudinal Toledo Adolescent Relationships Study (TARS) to evaluate the association between pre-pandemic and pandemic indicators of binge drinking among a population-based sample of 321 mothers and 152 fathers in their 30s. Findings indicated that although mothers reported lower levels of binge drinking compared to fathers overall, mothers reported significantly greater frequency of pandemic binge drinking when controlling for pre-pandemic parenting responsibilities. Fathers did not report greater frequency of binge drinking when controlling pre-pandemic parenting responsibilities. Pandemic-related parenting demands were also significant predictors of binge drinking behavior. These results may help inform broader public messaging efforts during public health emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic. For clinicians such as social workers and mental health counselors, these findings emphasize the utility in taking a family systems approach with clients who have substance use disorders to encourage recovery initiation and maintenance. This study also demonstrates the importance of social workers, community aid workers, educators, and other human services professionals in helping to reduce the demands and stresses associated with parenting and daily living during public health emergencies and other large-scale stressors by connecting affected families with essential services and supportive networks.