Dr Abigail Stevely

BSc, MPH, PhD

School of Medicine and Population Health

Research Fellow

a.stevely@sheffield.ac.uk

G033, Regent Court (ScHARR)

Full contact details

Dr Abigail Stevely
School of Medicine and Population Health
G033
Regent Court (ScHARR)
30 Regent Street
Sheffield
S1 4DA

Profile

I am a Research Fellow in the Sheffield Addictions Research Group (SARG), holding degrees in biomedical sciences and public health from the University of Sheffield. I have worked at the Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research (SCHARR) since 2020 and held an NIHR SPHR Launching Fellowship from 2023 to 2025.

Much of my work has focused on evaluating major policy interventions including minimum unit pricing in Scotland. I have also worked on understanding the impact of COVID-19 on drinking behaviour. My current research focuses on the 2023 Alcohol Duty reforms and the public health impact of alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks.

My PhD thesis applied theories of practice to develop alcohol epidemiology and policy analysis. I used data on how people drink alcohol (e.g. drinking beer in a pub or relaxing on the sofa) to identify contexts associated with heavy alcohol consumption within drinking occasions and to evaluate the effects of the Licensing Act 2003.

Research interests

My research focuses on alcohol epidemiology, public health policy evaluation, and reducing health inequalities. I am interested in how complex social systems produce and interact with population health and inequalities, and in using this knowledge to inform intervention development, evaluation and refinement.

My recent projects have focused on changes in the clustering of health and wellbeing indicators among adolescents in high-income countries since the early 2000s, and the evaluation of major alcohol policies including minimum unit pricing in Scotland.

Publications

Show: Featured publications All publications

Featured publications

Journal articles

Stevely AK, Holmes J & Meier PS (2021) Combinations of Drinking Occasion Characteristics Associated with Units of Alcohol Consumed among British Adults: An Event-Level Decision Tree Modeling Study.. Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 45(3), 630-637.
Stevely AK, Vocht F, Neves Lic RB, Holmes J & Meier PS (2021) Evaluating the effects of the Licensing Act 2003 on the characteristics of drinking occasions in England & Wales: A theory of change‐guided evaluation of a natural experiment. Addiction, 116(9), 2348-2359.
Holmes J, Beard E, Brown J, Brennan A, Meier PS, Michie S, Stevely AK, Webster L & Buykx PF (2020) Effects on alcohol consumption of announcing and implementing revised UK low-risk drinking guidelines : findings from an interrupted time series analysis. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 74(11), 942-949. View this article in WRRO
Stevely AK, Holmes J, McNamara S & Meier PS (2020) Drinking contexts and their association with acute alcohol‐related harm : a systematic review of event‐level studies on adults' drinking occasions. Drug and Alcohol Review, 39(4), 309-320. View this article in WRRO
McNamara S, Holmes J, Stevely AK & Tsuchiya A (2020) How averse are the UK general-public to inequalities in health between socioeconomic groups? A systematic review. The European Journal of Health Economics, 21(2), 275-285. View this article in WRRO
Stevely AK, Holmes J & Meier PS (2020) Contextual characteristics of adults’ drinking occasions and their association with levels of alcohol consumption and acute alcohol‐related harm : a mapping review. Addiction, 115(2), 218-229. View this article in WRRO
Stevely AK, Buykx P, Brown J, Beard E, Michie S, Meier PS & Holmes J (2018) Exposure to revised drinking guidelines and 'COM-B' determinants of behaviour change: descriptive analysis of a monthly cross-sectional survey in England. BMC Public Health, 18. View this article in WRRO
Stevely A, Dimairo M, Todd S, Julious SA, Nicholl J, Hind D & Cooper CL (2015) An Investigation of the Shortcomings of the CONSORT 2010 Statement for the Reporting of Group Sequential Randomised Controlled Trials: A Methodological Systematic Review.. PLoS One, 10(11). View this article in WRRO

All publications

Journal articles

Buss V, Kale D, Oldham M, Shahab L, Stevely A, Kersbergen I & Brown J (2025) Trends in use of alcohol-free or low alcohol drinks in attempts to reduce alcohol consumption in Great Britain, 2020-2024: a population-based study. BMJ Public Health, 3(2). View this article in WRRO
Moolla A, Holmes J, Wilson L, Brown J, Kersbergen I & Stevely A (2025) Temporary and sustained changes in alcoholic and alcohol-free or low-alcohol drinks sales during January? A time series analysis of seasonal patterning in Great Britain. International Journal of Drug Policy, 145. View this article in WRRO
Wilson L, Stevely AK, Kersbergen I, McGrane E, Moore EC, Pryce RE, Brown J & Holmes J (2025) Current and future trends in the consumption, sale and purchasing of alcohol-free and low-alcohol products in Great Britain, 2014 to 2023. Addiction, 120(8), 1655-1665. View this article in WRRO
Vieira E, Taylor N, Stevely A, Pennay A, Raninen J, Holmes J, Vashishtha R & Livingston M (2025) A systematic review of adolescent alcohol-related harm trends in high-income countries with declines in adolescent consumption. Addiction, 120(8), 1551-1570. View this article in WRRO
Meier PS, Holmes J, Stevely A, Boyd JE, Alava MH, Hardie I, Warde A & Sasso A (2025) Drinking practices: the variation of drinking events across intersections of sex, age and household income. Drug and Alcohol Review, 44(1), 144-156. View this article in WRRO
Wilson LB, Bain M, Hernandez-Alava M, Holmes J, Pryce R, Sasso A, Stevely AK, Warde A & Meier PS (2025) Solitary drinkers in Great Britain: How do their sociodemographic characteristics, consumption patterns, and drinking occasions differ from those who drink with others?. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 86(1), 39-47. View this article in WRRO
Dunphy J, Vieira E, Stevely AK, Livingston M, Vashishtha R, Rivelin K & Holmes J (2025) Have declines in the prevalence of young adult drinking in English-speaking high-income countries followed declines in youth drinking? A systematic review. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 32(1), 15-28. View this article in WRRO
Stevely A, Garnett C, Holmes J, Jones A, Dinu L & Oldham M (2024) Optimizing the measurement of information on the context of alcohol consumption within the Drink Less app among people drinking at increasing and higher risk levels: mixed-methods usability study. JMIR Formative Research, 8. View this article in WRRO
Morris D, Angus C, Gillespie D, Stevely A, Pryce R, Wilson L, Henney M, Meier P, Holmes J & Brennan A (2024) Estimating the effect of transitioning to a strength-based alcohol tax system on alcohol consumption and health outcomes: a modelling study of tax reform in England. The Lancet Public Health, 9(10), e719-e728. View this article in WRRO
Oldham M, Okpako T, Leppin C, Garnett C, Dina L-M, Stevely A, Jones A & Holmes J (2024) Cutting consumption without diluting the experience: preferences for different tactics for reducing alcohol consumption among increasing-and-higher-risk drinkers based on drinking context. PLOS Digital Health, 3(8). View this article in WRRO
Stevely AK, Gray LA, Fairbrother H, Fenton L, Henney M, Kersbergen I & Holmes J (2024) A latent class analysis of international change and continuity in adolescent health and wellbeing: a repeat cross-sectional study. PLoS ONE, 19(6). View this article in WRRO
Holmes J, Sasso A, Hernández Alava M, Borges Neves R, Stevely AK, Warde A & Meier PS (2024) How is alcohol consumption and heavy episodic drinking spread across different types of drinking occasion in Great Britain: An event-level latent class analysis. International Journal of Drug Policy, 127. View this article in WRRO
Fenton L, Fairbrother H, Whitaker V, Henney M, Stevely AK & Holmes J (2024) Geographies of alcohol and generation: examining the decline in youth drinking in England through a spatial lens. Drug and Alcohol Review, 43(3), 675-684. View this article in WRRO
Holmes J, Sasso A, Hernández Alava M, Stevely AK, Warde A, Angus C & Meier PS (2023) Change and stability in british drinking practices and culture between 2009 and 2019: a longitudinal latent class analysis of drinking occasions.. SSM - Population Health, 24. View this article in WRRO
Stevely AK, Gray LA, Fairbrother H, Fenton L, Henney M & Holmes J (2023) A latent class analysis of change and continuity in adolescent health and wellbeing in England during the decline in youth alcohol consumption: a repeat cross-sectional study. Preventive Medicine Reports, 36. View this article in WRRO
Stevely AK, Mackay D, Alava MH, Brennan A, Meier PS, Sasso A & Holmes J (2023) Evaluating the effects of minimum unit pricing in Scotland on the prevalence of harmful drinking: a controlled interrupted time series analysis. Public Health, 220, 43-49. View this article in WRRO
Fenton L, Fairbrother H, Whitaker V, Henney M, Stevely A & Holmes J (2023) ‘When I came to university, that’s when the real shift came’: alcohol and belonging in English higher education. Journal of Youth Studies, 27(7), 1006-1022. View this article in WRRO
Warde A, Sasso A, Holmes J, Hernandez Alava M, Stevely A & Meier P (2023) Situated drinking: the association between eating and alcohol consumption in Great Britain. Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 40(3), 301-318. View this article in WRRO
Holmes J, Sasso A, Alava MH, Neves RB, Stevely AK, Warde A & Meier PS (2022) The distribution of alcohol consumption and heavy episodic drinking across British drinking occasions in 2019: a cross-sectional, latent, class analysis of event-level drinking diary data.. Lancet, 400 Suppl 1, S50.
Stevely A, Vashishtha R, Fairbrother H, Fenton L, Henney M, Livingston M & Holmes J (2022) Are changes in attitudes towards school associated with declining youth drinking? A multi-level analysis of 37 countries. European Journal of Public Health, 32(3), 354-359. View this article in WRRO
Hardie I, Stevely AK, Sasso A, Meier PS & Holmes J (2022) The impact of changes in COVID‐19 lockdown restrictions on alcohol consumption and drinking occasion characteristics in Scotland and England in 2020 : an interrupted time‐series analysis. Addiction, 117(6), 1622-1639.
Holmes J, Angus C, Sasso A, Stevely A & Meier P (2021) What proportion of on-trade alcohol is served to those who are already potentially intoxicated? An analysis of event-level data. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 82(5), 602-609. View this article in WRRO
Stevely AK, Holmes J & Meier PS (2021) Combinations of Drinking Occasion Characteristics Associated with Units of Alcohol Consumed among British Adults: An Event-Level Decision Tree Modeling Study.. Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 45(3), 630-637.
Stevely AK, Vocht F, Neves Lic RB, Holmes J & Meier PS (2021) Evaluating the effects of the Licensing Act 2003 on the characteristics of drinking occasions in England & Wales: A theory of change‐guided evaluation of a natural experiment. Addiction, 116(9), 2348-2359.
Holmes J, Beard E, Brown J, Brennan A, Meier PS, Michie S, Stevely AK, Webster L & Buykx PF (2020) Effects on alcohol consumption of announcing and implementing revised UK low-risk drinking guidelines : findings from an interrupted time series analysis. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 74(11), 942-949. View this article in WRRO
Holmes J, Beard E, Brown J, Brennan A, Kersbergen I, Meier PS, Michie S, Stevely AK & Buykx P (2020) The impact of promoting revised UK low-risk drinking guidelines on alcohol consumption: interrupted time series analysis. Public Health Research, 8(14). View this article in WRRO
Stevely AK, Holmes J, McNamara S & Meier PS (2020) Drinking contexts and their association with acute alcohol‐related harm : a systematic review of event‐level studies on adults' drinking occasions. Drug and Alcohol Review, 39(4), 309-320. View this article in WRRO
McNamara S, Holmes J, Stevely AK & Tsuchiya A (2020) How averse are the UK general-public to inequalities in health between socioeconomic groups? A systematic review. The European Journal of Health Economics, 21(2), 275-285. View this article in WRRO
Stevely AK, Holmes J & Meier PS (2020) Contextual characteristics of adults’ drinking occasions and their association with levels of alcohol consumption and acute alcohol‐related harm : a mapping review. Addiction, 115(2), 218-229. View this article in WRRO
Holmes J, Beard E, Brennan A, Brown J, Gillespie D, Meier PS, Michie S, Stevely AK, Webster L & Buykx P (2019) Effects on alcohol consumption of announcing revised UK low-risk drinking guidelines : findings from a monthly cross-sectional survey. The Lancet, 394, S54-S54. View this article in WRRO
Stevely AK, Buykx P, Brown J, Beard E, Michie S, Meier PS & Holmes J (2018) Exposure to revised drinking guidelines and 'COM-B' determinants of behaviour change: descriptive analysis of a monthly cross-sectional survey in England. BMC Public Health, 18. View this article in WRRO
Stevely A, Dimairo M, Todd S, Julious SA, Nicholl J, Hind D & Cooper CL (2015) An Investigation of the Shortcomings of the CONSORT 2010 Statement for the Reporting of Group Sequential Randomised Controlled Trials: A Methodological Systematic Review.. PLoS One, 10(11). View this article in WRRO

Conference proceedings

Stevely A, Holmes J, Sasso A, Alava MH, Warde A, Angus C & Meier P (2023) OP54 Change and stability in British adults’ drinking practices and culture between 2009 and 2019: A longitudinal latent class analysis. SSM Annual Scientific Meeting (pp A27.2-A27)
Dimairo M, Stevely A, Todd S, Julious S, Nicholl J, Hind D & Cooper C (2015) Investigation of the shortcomings of the consort 2010 statement for the reporting of group sequential randomised controlled trials. Trials, Vol. 16(Supp 2). Glasgow, UK, 16 November 2015 - 16 November 2015. View this article in WRRO

Reports

Wilson L, McGrane E, Angus C, Kersbergen I, Pryce R, Stevely A & Holmes J (2025) Alcohol-free and low-alcohol drinks in Great Britain: Monitoring report on 2023 data
Stevely A (2023) New modelling of alcohol pricing policies, alcohol consumption and harm in Scotland
Stevely A (2022) Evaluating the impact of Minimum Unit Pricing in Scotland on people who are drinking at harmful levels
Stevely AK, Sasso A, Alava MH & Holmes J (2021) Changes in alcohol consumption in Scotland during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic: Descriptive analysis of repeat cross-sectional survey data View this article in WRRO

Preprints

Holmes J, Sasso A, Alava MH, Neves RB, Stevely AK, Warde A & Meier PS (2023) Alcohol consumption and heavy episodic drinking within different types of drinking occasion in Great Britain: An event-level latent class analysis, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Stevely AK, Garnett C, Holmes J, Jones A, Dinu L & Oldham M (2023) Optimizing the Measurement of Information on the Context of Alcohol Consumption Within the Drink Less App Among People Drinking at Increasing and Higher Risk Levels: Mixed-Methods Usability Study (Preprint), JMIR Publications Inc..

Grants

2026-2028: Natural Experimental Evaluation of increasing the Minimum Unit Price for alcohol in Scotland to 65p (NEEMUP65). NIHR Public Health Research (£1.2m). Work-package lead and co-investigator.
2024-2027: Reducing alcohol harms during a cost-of-living crisis: Evaluating the impact of alcohol duty reforms across Great Britain. NIHR Public Health Research (£2.0m). Work-package lead and co-investigator.
2022-2026: Evaluating and responding to the public health impact of no and low alcohol drinks: A multi-method study of a complex intervention in a complex system. NIHR Public Health Research (£2.2m). Co-investigator.
2023-2025: NIHR SPHR Launching Fellowship (£165K). Personal funding award.
2022-2024: Developing contextually specific interventions to reduce alcohol consumption amongst increasing and higher-risk drinkers within the Drink Less App. MRC PHIND Research Grant (£135K). Co-investigator.
2017-2020: NIHR SPHR Doctoral studentship. Personal funding award.