With widespread concern for increased alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a pressing need to examine changes in young adults’ alcohol use and to identify antecedents of increased use. We tested the hypothesis that self-reported changes in alcohol use during the pandemic (frequency, quantity, heavy episodic drinking) would relate to perceptions of peers’ changes in alcohol use. In April of 2020, 507 college students self-reported changes in their alcohol use and perceived changes in use for typical students at their university (i.e., norms). Most students in our sample reported decreased alcohol use and perceived decreases in peers’ alcohol use. Perceptions of peers’ changes in alcohol use behavior strongly related to changes in students’ own alcohol use. Findings provide strong support for norms-based strategies that can correct normative misperceptions by highlighting the fact that most college students are not in fact engaging in heavier alcohol use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

由于人们普遍担心在 COVID-19 大流行期间饮酒增加，因此迫切需要检查年轻人饮酒的变化并确定饮酒增加的前因。我们检验了这样一个假设，即在大流行期间自我报告的酒精使用变化（频率、数量、大量饮酒）与对同龄人对酒精使用变化的看法有关。2020 年 4 月，507 名大学生自我报告了他们大学中典型学生的酒精使用变化和感知变化（即规范）。我们样本中的大多数学生报告说酒精使用量减少了，并且认为同龄人的酒精使用量减少了。对同伴饮酒行为变化的看法与学生自身饮酒行为的变化密切相关。