‘It Seems Like Even More of a Reason to Drink’: A Literature Review of Temporary Abstinence Challenges (TAC) and Evidence Concerning Immediate Post-Challenge Drinking Plans Among Young Adults

Temporary Abstinence Challenges (TAC), that is, taking breaks from consuming any alcohol for defined periods (e.g. one month) have grown in popularity, internationally, over the last two decades (e.g. Dry January, Sober October in the UK; Dry July in Australia). TACs are of interest to social scientists and health promotion practitioners and policy makers because evidence has provided some support for their role in reducing alcohol use, enhancing skills at refusing alcoholic drinks and other benefits including increased quality of life. Questions have been raised and developed around the extent to which TACs may foster longer-term changes in alcohol consumption, over the risks of potential ‘back-fire’ effects (e.g. compensatory ‘binging’ post-TAC participation). In this chapter, we first outline the current evidence base and field discussion linked to TACs, outlining findings from key studies, and draw attention to key debates relating to TAC participation among young adults. In the second section we explore material from a longitudinal study of TAC participation involving increasing/higher risk young adult drinkers. We explore data that concerned these individuals’ immediate plans relating to alcohol consumption post-TAC participation. The chapter concludes with suggestions for future research priorities in the TAC literature.