OBJECTIVES: This contribution provides insights into the methodology of a pan-European population-based online survey, performed without external funding during the COVID-19 pandemic. We present the impact of different dissemination strategies to collect data from a non-probabilistic convenience sample and outline post-stratification weighting schemes, to provide guidance for future multi-country survey studies. METHODS: Description and comparison of dissemination strategies for five exemplary countries (Czechia, Germany, Lithuania, Norway, Spain) participating in the Alcohol Use and COVID-19 Survey. Comparison of the sample distribution with the country's actual population distribution according to sociodemographics, and development of weighting schemes. RESULTS: The dissemination of online surveys through national newspapers, paid social media adverts and dissemination with the support of national health ministries turned out to be the most effective strategies. Monitoring the responses and adapting dissemination strategies to reach under-represented groups, and the application of sample weights were helpful to achieve an analytic sample matching the respective general population profiles. CONCLUSION: Reaching a large pan-European convenience sample, including most European countries, in a short time was feasible, with the support of a broad scientific network.

1 M Sechenov 1st Moscow State Medical University Moscow Russian Federation

Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Toronto Ontario Canada

Centre for Interdisciplinary Addiction Research University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf Hamburg Germany

Clínic Foundation for Biomedical Research Barcelona Spain

Clinical Addictions Research Group Psychiatry Department Neurosciences Institute Hospital Clínic University of Barcelona Barcelona Spain

Dalla Lana School of Public Health University of Toronto Toronto Ontario Canada

Department of Addictology 1st Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital Prague Charles University Praha Czech Republic

Department of Global Public Health Karolinska Institute Stockholm Sweden

Department of Preventive Medicine Faculty of Public Health Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kaunas Lithuania

Department of Psychiatry Medical Faculty University of Leipzig Leipzig Germany

Department of Psychiatry University of Toronto Toronto Ontario Canada

Faculty of Medicine Institute of Medical Science University of Toronto Toronto Ontario Canada

Health Research Institute Faculty of Public Health Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kaunas Lithuania

Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer Barcelona Spain

Institute for Mental Health Policy Research Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Toronto Ontario Canada

Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Technische Universität Dresden Dresden Germany

Norwegian Institute of Public Health Oslo Norway

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