Americans started drinking more during the pandemic, and a new study shows that lasted for years

The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increases in stress-related drinking and alcohol-related deaths, and new research suggests drinking didn't stop as things returned to normal. 

In the study, published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers found drinking increases from 2018 to 2020 persisted into 2022.

The population-based study used data from adults 18 years and older who participated in the National Health Interview Survey from 2018 to 2022. The survey, which used complex sampling, was nationally representative and had more than 20,000 respondents each year.