Across the globe, heavy drinking is a known leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 have the highest prevalence of binge drinking, and more than 10% of young adults report recent consumption of ten or more drinks during one occasion. Fuzzy-trace theory (FTT) is when “decision-makers spontaneously extract multiple mental representations of any given choice about risk.” This study applies FTT to examine the potential danger from the notion that a single drink carries no meaningful risk.
This study consisted of 351 college students who were shown to have high levels of alcohol consumption. The perceived risk of one drink was measured using a 9-item scale that analyzed the first perception of the total magnitude of the risk associated with one drink of nine different types of alcohol. Perceived risk of heavy drinking, perceived consequences, risk sensitivity, and drinking decisions were all measured. Participants also completed a daily drinking questionnaire, a brief young adult alcohol consequences questionnaire, and the alcohol use disorder identification test (AUDIT).
This study found that if decisions are indeed processed as “just one drink,” consistent with the FTT, then this can lead to high-risk drinking. Those individuals who saw less risk in a single drink were more likely to start and continue drinking and reported more drinks per week, higher peak BAC, more binges, and higher AUDIT scores. Further research could be done to assess if this proves true for other relevant behaviors such as unhealthy eating, cannabis use, and gambling.
Takeaway: Individuals who saw less risk in a single drink were more likely to engage in high-risk drinking.