College student drinking is a ubiquitous public health concern among university communities in the United States. Harmful drinking can result in a vast number of physiological consequences for drinkers, in addition to elevating public safety concerns. One of the most notorious effects is that of alcohol-induced amnesia, or a “blackout”, usually caused by binge drinking. Blackout experiences can be fragmentary or total, in reference to the corresponding timeframe, and occur due to the disruption of memory-related neurotransmission in the hippocampus. Often a key marker in diagnosing alcohol use disorders, many interventions incorporate blackout reduction/elimination in their designs when treating patients. This study examines the link between drinking attitudes and blackouts in a population of undergraduate students.
The first part of this study collected information from 1072 students from two large undergraduate institutions, intending to create behavioral risk profiles using a completed survey set. The second part of the study examined alcohol treatment intervention results in a separate sample of 568 students from another large undergraduate institution. Data from both parts of the studies were deemed complementary and assessed the following measures: demographics, alcohol use (via Daily Drinking Questionnaire), alcohol-related attitudes, blackout frequency (via Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test), motivation to reduce drinking (part 1 only), and estimated blood-alcohol concentration (BAC, part 2 only). The data was analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression and moderation analyses.
Results of the study found blackout experiences to correlate with drinking attitudes as well as motivation to reduce drinking. Alcohol attitudes were negatively associated with motivation to reduce drinking. Additionally, blackouts moderated the relationship between alcohol attitudes and decreasing BAC.
Takeaway: this data suggests that blackout experiences may serve as turning points for students who reduce different drinking variables. However, attitudes alco correlated with blackouts, so interventions designed to attenuate positive attitudes towards alcohol may serve as an effective method of harm reduction.