Ahuja researches loneliness and alcohol use among college students

Manik Ahuja, Assistant Professor in the East Tennessee State University College of Public Health’s Department of Health Services Management and Policy, is lead author of an article in Chronic Stress.  The article is titled, “Loneliness and Alcohol use among College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Rural Appalachia.”

Co-authors include College of Public Health alumni Esther Adebayo-Abikoye, Kawther Al-Ksir, Arpana Karki, and Phoebe Tchoua students McKenzie Dooley, Minakshi Bansal, Andrea Haubner, Amanda Pons, Brook Samuel, and Trisha Schuver as well as Rachel Miller-Slough in the ETSU Department of Psychology, Praveen Fernandopulle of the ETSU Quillen College of Medicine, Callon Williams of Binghamton University, and Thiveya Sathiyasaleen of Ballad Health.

Binge drinking and heavy alcohol use are highly prevalent among college students. During the COVID-19 pandemic, due to lockdown restrictions and other challenges, many college students were burdened with loneliness, which can contribute to chronic stress, and substance use. The current study explores the association between loneliness and various levels of alcohol use among college students in the rural, underserved region of Central Appalachia in the United States.

Data were collected from a regional sample of 320 college age adults, age 18-25 in the Central Appalachian region. The UCLA-3 item Loneliness Scale (UCLA-3) was used in the study to evaluate loneliness. Overall, 25.5% of the participants reported severe loneliness, 33.6% reported moderate, and 40.9% reported low levels of loneliness. Results revealed that severe loneliness was associated with higher odds of heavy alcohol use and binge drinking, and not associated with weekly alcohol use.  

The study found that higher levels of loneliness were linked to both binged drinking and heavy alcohol use. Further efforts for counseling and treatment among college students who are burdened with severe loneliness should be considered. The chronic stress associated with severe loneliness needs to be further addressed, particularly among emerging adults.