Dataset Information

Self-reported energy use behaviour changed significantly during the cost-of-living crisis in winter 2022/23: insights from cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys in Great Britain.

ABSTRACT: The winter of 2022/23 has seen large increases in energy prices and in the cost of living in many countries around the world, including Great Britain. Here, we report the results of two surveys, combining cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis, in a sample of about 5400 British households. One survey was conducted early in 2023, the other when participants had signed up to an ongoing research study in the past five years. Thermostat settings were about 1°C lower during the cost-of-living crisis than before, and householders were more likely to turn the heating off when the home was unoccupied. The effort to save energy increased compared to pre-cost-of-living-crisis levels. Using the in-home display more in the cost-of-living crisis than before correlated with greater effort to save energy, supporting the notion that displaying energy data can be a useful tool for energy reductions. Finding it difficult to keep comfortably warm in the home and struggling with meeting heating costs were linked to lower wellbeing, strengthening evidence links between cold, damp, and hard-to-heat homes and negative mental health outcomes. About 40% of respondents lowered the flow temperature of the boiler which might imply that highly tailored information campaigns can be effective in changing behaviour.

SUBMITTER: Huebner GM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10721844 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Self-reported energy use behaviour changed significantly during the cost-of-living crisis in winter 2022/23: insights from cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys in Great Britain.

Huebner Gesche M GM Hanmer Clare C Zapata-Webborn Ellen E Pullinger Martin M McKenna Eoghan James EJ Few Jessica J Elam Simon S Oreszczyn Tadj T

Scientific reports 20231214 1

The winter of 2022/23 has seen large increases in energy prices and in the cost of living in many countries around the world, including Great Britain. Here, we report the results of two surveys, combining cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis, in a sample of about 5400 British households. One survey was conducted early in 2023, the other when participants had signed up to an ongoing research study in the past five years. Thermostat settings were about 1°C lower during the cost-of-living cris ...[more]

PMID: 38097624

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Project description:ObjectivesGambling is associated with cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption. We explored the intersection of gambling across all risk levels of harm with smoking and alcohol use among adults in Great Britain.DesignA nationally representative cross-sectional survey in October 2022.SettingGreat Britain.ParticipantsA weighted total of 2398 adults (18+ years).Outcome measuresWe examined the prevalence of past-year gambling and, among those reporting gambling, assessed the associations between the outcome of any risk of harm from gambling (scoring >0 on the Problem Gambling Severity Index) and the binary predictor variables of current cigarette smoking and higher risk alcohol consumption (AUDIT-C score≥4). We also explored data on weekly expenditure on gambling with smoking and alcohol use among those categorised at any-risk of harm from gambling.ResultsOverall, 43.6% (95% CI 41.2% to 45.9%) of adults gambled in the past year. Among these, 7.3% (95% CI 5.3% to 9.3%) were classified at any-risk of harm from gambling, 16.0% (95% CI 13.2% to 18.8%) were currently smoking and 40.8% (95% CI 37.2% to 44.4%) were drinking at increasing and higher risk levels. There were no associations between any risk of harm from gambling and current smoking (OR adjusted=0.80, 95% CI 0.35 to 1.66) or drinking at increasing and higher risk levels (OR adjusted=0.94, 95% CI 0.52 to 1.69), respectively. Analyses using Bayes factors indicated that these data were insensitive to distinguish no effect from a range of associations (OR=95% CI 0.5 to 1.9). The mean weekly spend on gambling was £7.69 (95% CI £5.17 to £10.21) overall, £4.80 (95% CI £4.18 to £5.43) among those classified as at no risk and £45.68 (95% CI £12.07 to £79.29) among those at any risk of harm from gambling.ConclusionsPilot data in a population-level survey on smoking and alcohol use yielded similar estimates to other population-level surveys on gambling participation and at-risk gambling. Further data are needed to elucidate the intersections more reliably between gambling, smoking and alcohol use and inform population-level approaches to reduce harm.

Dataset Information

Self-reported energy use behaviour changed significantly during the cost-of-living crisis in winter 2022/23: insights from cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys in Great Britain.

Publications

Self-reported energy use behaviour changed significantly during the cost-of-living crisis in winter 2022/23: insights from cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys in Great Britain.

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