Binge Drinking Among Youth
Binge-drinking continues to be a significant problem among American youth. Binge-drinking carries serious health and safety risks. The behavior has a high correlation with automobile accidents, bodily injury, alcohol poisoning and death, poor academic performance, use of illicit drugs, crime, violence, high-risk sexual activity, and involvement with law enforcement. Binge-drinking is particularly prevalent on college campuses, where alcohol consumption has evolved into a fundamental aspect of the social culture. However, college-age binge drinkers are more likely than other college students to have been binge-drinkers in high school, indicating that this behavior may not originate in the college atmosphere.
Binge-drinking is defined as the consumption of five or more alcohol beverages in a row for males, and four or more drinks in a row for females. A drink is defined as a four-ounce glass of wine, a 12-ounce wine cooler, a 12-ounce beer, or a shot of liquor taken straight or in a mixed drink.
Research by the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study (CAS) indicates that binge-drinkers are more likely to be male, Caucasian, and under the age of 24. Incidence of binge-drinking is lower for other racial/ethnic groups. However, binge-drinking also appears to be linked to risk factors other than race/ethnicity. These risk factors include family environment, peer group attitudes, community attitudes, childhood trauma, genetic predisposition, social traditions, advertising, and the availability of alcohol to underage drinkers. With so many significant risk factors for binge-drinking behavior, this complex phenomenon cannot be fully explained by any one influence.
Research indicates that binge-drinkers are more likely to have parents who drink and/or abuse substances and are more likely to have little parental supervision. Binge-drinkers also tend to be more involved with athletics and social activities, and less with community, academic, or religious activities. They are more likely to have experienced trauma, and more likely to live in communities where underage and binge-drinking are condoned. Binge-drinkers tend to anticipate a greater number of positive effects and a smaller number of negative effects from drinking that their peers.
The Harvard CAS study also found that frequent binge-drinkers are at least five times more likely than non-binge-drinkers to experience an array of problems. The problems include educational, psychological, social, sexual, medical and legal problems. Each year, alcohol-related tragedies claim the lives of young people. These tragedies include car accidents, fights, alcohol poisonings, drownings, and falls. The CAS study indicates that binge-drinking college students are 17 times more likely to miss a class, 10 times more likely to vandalize property, and eight times more likely get injured.
According to the results of the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings (NSDUH), conducted by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, more than one-fifth (23.0 percent) of persons aged 12 or older participated in binge-drinking within the last 30 days. Based on the U.S. population in 2006, this represents approximately 57 million people. The study also found that one in six youth (16.6 percent), aged 12 to 17 years, currently used alcohol on a regular basis, and one in ten youth (10.3 percent) participated in binge-drinking within the last 30 days.
The 2006 NSDUH data indicates that college-age youth represent a significant portion of underage alcohol users and binge-drinkers in the United States. When the youth age-group was expanded to include 18-20 year-olds (in comparison to the 12 to 17 age group mentioned above), the 2006 NSDUH study found that the rates of current alcohol use and binge-drinking increased significantly. By including 18-20 year-olds, the rate of current alcohol use climbed from 16.6 percent to 28.3 percent (10.8 million people); the rate of binge-drinking jumped from 10.3 percent to 19.0 percent (7.2 million people). Similarly, heavy alcohol use, defined as binge-drinking on at least 5 of the last 30 days, was reported by 6.9 percent of persons aged 12 or older, by 2.4 percent of persons age 12-17, and by 6.2 percent of persons age 12 to 20. These figures indicate that the rate of heavy drinking more than doubles between the ages of 18-20.
According to the 2006 NSDUH study, one group did improve over the last couple of years. Binge drinking among pregnant women, aged 15 to 44, decreased between 2003-2004 and 2005-2006. The rate of binge-drinking during the first trimester of pregnancy dropped from 10.6 percent to 4.6 percent.
References
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2007). Results from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings (Office of Applied Studies, NSDUH Series H-32, DHHS Publication No. SMA 07-4293. Rockville, MD.
Wechsler H, Kuh G, Davenport A. Fraternities, sororities and binge drinking: Results from a national study of American colleges National Association of Deans and Advisors 1996; 33: 260-278.
Wechsler H, Lee J, Kuo M, Lee H. College Binge Drinking in the 1990s: A Continuing Problem – Results of the Harvard School of Public Health 1999 College Alcohol Study. Journal of American College Health 2000 March; 48(10):199-210.
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