High-intensity drinking (HID), consuming 10+ drinks during one occasion, is most prevalent among young adults. High-intensity drinking can learn to a variety of negative consequences including injury, alcohol poisoning, memory loss, and sexual risk. Therefore, it is important to understand risk factors for this behavior. The social-ecological model emphasizes that alcohol consumption is affected by a variety factors including social settings (e.g. drinking alone, with friends, or in a large group), physical environment (e.g. home, bars, party), and situational characteristics (e.g. pre-gaming or price of drinks). This study examines the impact of social settings, drinking games/drink price specials, and location on likelihood of HID among young adults.  

The study’s sample consisted of 818 young adults who participated in the Young Adult Daily Life (YADL) Study in 2019-2022. Participants who indicated past 30-day alcohol use were asked to complete 14-day data collection bursts. These daily surveys assessed drinking intensity, social settings, drinking game/special contexts, drinking locations. Respondents were also asked to report the day of the week that alcohol was consumed and legal drinking age on drinking day. Data was analyzed using weighted multi-level modeling to determine impact of variables on HID likelihood.  

Results of the data analysis showed that the most prevalent drinking social setting was with friends and the most prevalent drinking location was home. Those who reported drinking at more locations had higher odds of HID. The odds of HID (vs binge drinking) was also greater on days when respondents drank with large groups and strangers and on days when there was pre-gaming or drinking games. No specific location was associated with greater likelihood of HID. Legal drinking age was associated with less likelihood of free drinks but a greater likelihood of drinking at bars/restaurants. Lastly, attending college was associated with lower odds of drinking alone or free drinks but higher likelihood of drinking with peers, large groups, pre-gaming, drinking games, and more drinking locations.  

Takeaway: Alcohol use contexts may provide predictive value when assessing likelihood of high-intensity drinking among young adults.  

Terry-McElrath, Y.M., Arterberry, B.J., Patrick, M.E.. Alcohol use contexts (social settings, drinking games/specials, and locations) as predictors of high-intensity drinking on a given day among U.S. young adults [published online ahead of print, 2022 Dec 3]. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research. 2022;10.1111/acer.14985. doi:10.1111/acer.14985