21st birthday celebrations are known for being accompanied by extreme risky drinking. Previous research has shown some relations to young adult’s beliefs, intentions, and friends influences on this “rite of passage.” The current study looks to investigate intrapersonal and interpersonal pathways around beliefs about 21st birthday celebrations. 

Participants for this study were about to turn 21, intend to drink heavily during their birthday, and had at least one friend they intended to celebrate with. 201 participants completed the baseline survey and 241 of their friends completed the online assessment. The friends were mostly classified as best friends including also friends, romantic partners, relatives, coworkers, and acquaintances. The measures included 21st birthday celebration beliefs, 21st birthday drinking intentions (celebrant and friend perceived celebrant intentions), and celebrant alcohol consumption. Intentions were measured by asking how many drinks were intended to consume. Actual consumption was measured by asking how many drinks were consumed and then calculating an estimated blood alcohol concentration (eBAC).               

Findings showed that celebrant beliefs were not related to friends believes or perceptions of drinking intentions. Celebrants and friends both believed the birthday was a time of excessive celebration, but celebrant beliefs were stronger. Celebrants intended to drink 9.93 drinks with their friend’s perceptions being accurate at 9.73 drinks. Actual consumption was on average 9.58 drinks with typical number of drinks per occasion being around 4 drinks for celebrants and friends. Overall, male celebrants intended to drink 3.46 more drinks than female celebrants and male eBAC levels were on average 0.04 lower than females. The findings show friends do influence 21st birthday drinking and interventions may benefit from using friends to reduce celebrate drinking at this high-risk celebration.

Take Away: The current study looks to investigate intrapersonal and interpersonal pathways around beliefs about 21st birthday celebrations. 201 participants completed the baseline survey and 241 of their friends completed the online assessment. The measures included 21st birthday celebration beliefs, 21st birthday drinking intentions (celebrant and friend perceived celebrant intentions), and celebrant alcohol consumption. Celebrants and friends both believed the birthday was a time of excessive celebration, but celebrant beliefs were stronger. Celebrants intended to drink 9.93 drinks with their friend’s perceptions being accurate at 9.73 drinks. Actual consumption was on average 9.58 drinks. The findings show friends do influence 21st birthday drinking and interventions may benefit from using friends to reduce celebrate drinking at this high-risk celebration.

Fillo, J., Rodriguez, L. M., Neighbors, C., & Lee, C. M. (2020). Intrapersonal and interpersonal pathways linking 21st birthday celebration beliefs, intentions, and drinking behavior. Addictive Behaviors, 110, 106526. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106526