A new study compared drinking patterns among young adults enrolled in college and their peers who were not. The authors compared these groups across multiple indicators, including HED (consuming four or more [women] or five or more [men] drinks on a single occasion), high-intensity drinking (consuming eight or more [women] or 10 or more [men] drinks on a single occasion), and exceeding daily/weekly drinking guidelines. Data were obtained from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III (NESARC-III),which randomly sampled U.S. adults aged 18 and over (N = 36,309). This study only examined data from participants aged 18 to 22 years who reported past-year alcohol use (n = 2,213). Over 60% of participants were non-college attenders and 58% identified as White. Latent class analysis was used to identify subgroups of participants based on multiple drinking indicators. Five drinking classes were identified: Occasional, Light Drinkers; Regular Drinkers; Infrequent Drinkers with Occasional Binging; Frequent Drinkers with Occasional Binging; and High-Intensity Drinkers. The distribution of these classes varied between college students and non-college students: 38% of college students were classified as High-Intensity Drinkers, compared to 27% of non-college attenders, 24% of college students were Frequent Drinkers with Occasional Binging, compared to 21% of non-college attenders, and 25% of college students were occasional, light drinkers, compared to 33% of non-college attenders. However, the odds of being a High-Intensity Drinker relative to a Frequent Drinker with Occasional Binging were not significantly different between groups. Limitations of this study include its reliance on self-reported drinking behaviors and strict definition of college attendance, in which only full-time students were labeled college attenders.

Take away: This study compared drinking patterns between young adult college students and non-college attenders. Results indicated the odds of belonging to the highest-risk drinking group (high-intensity drinkers) relative to the second-highest-risk group did not significantly differ between students and non-students.

Linden-Carmichael, A.N. & Lanza, S.T. (2018). Drinking patterns of college- and non-college attending young adults: Is high-intensity drinking only a college phenomenon? Substance Use & Misuse [published online ahead of print April 19, 2018] doi: 10.1080/10826084.2018.1461224