Determinants of successful completion and short-term benefits associated with temporary alcohol abstinence during Dry January in France: A prospective cohort study (2026)

Objective: Temporary alcohol abstinence campaigns (TAAC), such as Dry January, aim to encourage behavioural change in the general population. Despite its popularity, a comprehensive evaluation of the French version has not yet been conducted. This prospective study aimed to identify characteristics associated with successful completion of the challenge (i.e., remaining alcohol-free throughout January), and to assess improvements in drinking refusal self-efficacy, sleep quality, and mental and physical health.
Methods: A sample of 2123 French adults participating in Dry January 2024 completed both a baseline and a one-month follow-up questionnaire online. A broad range of variables were assessed, including demographic and contextual factors, alcohol use patterns and motives, drinking refusal self-efficacy, and health-related outcomes.
Results: Key factors positively associated with successful completion included previous participation, registration, and higher baseline self-efficacy in resisting alcohol in social situations. Among registrants, greater engagement with support emails significantly increased the likelihood of abstinence. In contrast, smoking and identifying one's drinking as excessive were linked to lower odds of completion. The campaign was associated with improvements in drinking refusal self-efficacy, mental well-being, sleep quality, and physical health - particularly among participants who completed the full month without alcohol.
Conclusions: This study offers the first evaluation of the French version of Dry January, highlighting the factors influencing challenge completion and short-term benefits of participation. The findings add support to the value of TAAC as scalable and impactful public health tools and underscore the importance of tailored support strategies to maximize participant success and behavioural change. [Author's abstract]
Highlights:
Prior participation and registration predicted Dry January challenge success.
Baseline social drinking refusal self-efficacy predicted higher completion odds.
Engagement with support emails significantly improved abstinence rates.
Smoking and perceived overdrinking at baseline reduced likelihood of completion.
Participants reported gains in self-efficacy, sleep, mental and physical health.
FRANÇAIS :
Une étude prospective menée auprès de plus de 2000 participants au Dry January 2024 en France met en lumière les facteurs favorisant la réussite du défi d'un mois sans alcool et ses bénéfices à court terme. Les taux de réussite s'élèvent à 57 % (62 % parmi ceux visant l'abstinence totale).
La réussite est principalement associée à la fixation d'un objectif d'abstinence claire, à une participation antérieure, à l'inscription officielle et à un fort sentiment d'efficacité personnelle pour résister à la pression sociale liée à la consommation d'alcool. À l'inverse, le tabagisme et la perception d'une consommation excessive réduisent les chances de succès. Les participants ayant complété le défi ont rapporté une amélioration significative de leur bien-être mental, de la qualité du sommeil, de leur santé physique et de leur confiance à refuser l'alcool.
Ces résultats confirment la valeur des campagnes de sevrage temporaire comme outils accessibles et efficaces de santé publique, et soulignent l'importance de stratégies d'accompagnement personnalisées pour maximiser leur impact. [Synthèse SFA]