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Dry January

Month-long alcohol-free challenge started in 2013 by the UK charity Alcohol Concern (now Alcohol Change UK), with sign-up support by app and email. It has spread to other countries.

Years
2013–now
Country
United Kingdom
Topic
Alcohol
Asks people to
Stop
Strategy
Simple instructionSocial norms
Channel
AppSocial (organic)Website
Audience
Adults

Evidence

ObservationalPositive

Prospective cohort comparing participants with general-population drinkers (de Visser 2020): participants drank more and had less control over drinking at the start. Those who completed the month gained in well-being, drink-refusal confidence and lower AUDIT-C scores, changes not seen in other drinkers.

Sponsor (who paid)

  • Alcohol Change UK (formerly Alcohol Concern) NGO, creator

Credits (who made it)

Not recorded yet.

Related campaigns

Sources

  1. de Visser RO et al. Short- and Longer-Term Benefits of Temporary Alcohol Abstinence During 'Dry January' Are Not Also Observed Among Adult Drinkers in the General Population: Prospective Cohort Study. Alcohol Alcohol 2020;55(4):433-438 evaluation · 2020 · DOI 10.1093/alcalc/agaa025 · PMID 32391879
  2. de Visser RO et al. Temporary abstinence during Dry January: predictors of success; impact on well-being and self-efficacy. Psychol Health 2020;35(11):1293-1305 evaluation · 2020 · DOI 10.1080/08870446.2020.1743840 · PMID 32216557
  3. de Visser RO et al. Voluntary temporary abstinence from alcohol during 'Dry January' and subsequent alcohol use. Health Psychol 2016 evaluation · 2016 · DOI 10.1037/hea0000297 · PMID 26690637
  4. Case P et al. Has the increased participation in the national campaign 'Dry January' been associated with cutting down alcohol consumption in England?. Drug Alcohol Depend 2021 evaluation · 2021 · DOI 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108938 · PMID 34392050
  5. Oldham M et al. Exploring changes in temporary abstinence in increasing and higher risk drinkers in England and Dry January participation in users of the Try Dry app in the UK between 2020 and 2021. BMC Public Health 2022 evaluation · 2022 · DOI 10.1186/s12889-022-14188-4 · PMID 36163053
  6. de Visser RO et al. The influence of individual characteristics and social factors on not drinking alcohol during 'Dry January': results from a prospective study. Psychol Health 2026 reference · 2026 · DOI 10.1080/08870446.2026.2652425 · PMID 42065352

Research notes

Created 2026-10-22 by literature mining (PubMed/OpenAlex); evidence level, outcome and findings are paraphrased from the evaluation abstracts, full texts not read. No credits: no page naming an agency was checked. Self-selected participants; no randomized comparison. Evaluation sources added 2026-10-22 (citation snowballing / helpline pass): de Visser 2016, Case 2021, Oldham 2022, de Visser 2026; evidence level and outcome unchanged. Evaluation links reviewed 2026-10-22: de Visser 2026 (predictors of not drinking among registrants) set to reference; it studies who completes the month, not the campaign's effect. Evidence unchanged.

Record cases/dry-january.json, updated 2026-10-22· Link to this campaign