Alcohol is the number one substance used by young people and people of college age. Binge drinking (BD) in this age group is considered one of the most important global health issues, as much harm accrues from it and even lives are lost. This study aimed to review the interventions to curb BD or encourage responsible drinking among college students and young adults. MEDLINE (PubMed), ERIC and APA PsycINFO were searched. The selected articles were published in English and had to evaluate a BD reduction program through a randomized control trial (RCT) among college students or young adults between the ages of 17–24 years. The exclusion criteria included research not published in English, systematic review articles, qualitative studies, designs other than RCTs and discussion articles on college students drinking with no findings. The three reviewers independently screened and extracted the data using the PRISMA guidelines. The overall quality of the studies was assessed. Then, 10 of the 12 interventions studied were found to be successful in reducing BD among college students, though the effect sizes were small to medium. A minority of the studies used behavior change theories. Effective interventions for reducing BD among college students and young adults should include robust behavior change theories, longer follow-up time and the operationalization of multiple outcomes. Process evaluation is needed to be conducted in these studies.

Heavy episodic drinking (HED) is a major public health concern, and youth who engage in HED are at increased risk for alcohol-related problems that continue into adulthood. Importantly, there is heterogeneity in the onset and course of adolescent HED, as youth exhibit different trajectories of initiation and progression into heavy drinking. Much of what is known about the etiology of adolescent HED and alcohol-related problems that persist into adulthood comes from studies of predominantly White, middle-class youth. Because alcohol use and related problems vary by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status, it is unclear whether previous findings are relevant for understanding developmental antecedents and distal consequences of adolescent HED for minoritized individuals. In the current study, we utilize a developmental psychopathology perspective to fill this gap in the literature. Using a racially and economically diverse cohort followed from adolescence well into adulthood, we apply group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM) to identify patterns of involvement in HED from age 14 to 17 years. We then investigate developmental antecedents of GBTM class membership, and alcohol-related distal outcomes in adulthood (∼ age 31 years) associated with GBTM class membership. Results highlight the importance of adolescent alcohol use in predicting future alcohol use in adulthood.

Historical analyses based on US data indicate that recent cohorts engage in lower binge drinking at age 18 relative to past cohorts, but by the mid- to late-20s the reverse is true: recent cohorts engage in higher binge drinking relative to past cohorts. We pinpoint when – both developmentally and historically – this reversal manifested, examine possible reasons for this reversal, and examine sex convergence in these developmental and historical patterns. As part of the US national Monitoring the Future Study, over 75,000 youths from the high school classes of 1976–2006 were surveyed biennially between ages 18 and 30. We found that the reversal primarily manifested between ages 18 and 24 for men and 18 and 22 for women. We also found that the reversal emerged gradually across the last three decades, suggesting it is the result of a broad and durable historical shift. Our findings indicated that historical variation in social roles and minimum legal drinking age collectively accounted for only a modest amount of the reversal, although marriage was the most influential among the factors examined here. Finally, we found evidence that sex convergence in binge drinking was developmentally limited and far more pronounced at the beginning of the transition to adulthood.

L’étude BDmiE a consisté en une enquête transversale non interventionnelle, en ligne, auprès d’étudiants français en études supérieures. Elle comportait trois objectifs :

– étudier le comportement de binge drinking et son impact sur la qualité de vie ;

– valider et adapter un outil de mesure de la qualité de vie dans les trouble liés à l’usage d’alcool, AQoLS, à la population des binge drinkers ;

– étudier la relation entre identité de « fêtard », binge drinking et impact sur la qualité de vie.

Les conséquences à court terme et à long terme du binge drinking sur le cerveau et son fonctionnement commencent à être bien appréhendés. Sa pratique est banalisée et donc courante chez les jeunes. Nous avons initié une série d’études dans le cadre du projet européen AlcoBinge visant à mesurer les conséquences cérébrales morphologiques et fonctionnelles dans une population d’étudiants. Nous avons aussi utilisé la modélisation animale pour rechercher les conséquences à court terme sur les capacités cognitives et les phénomènes de plasticité synaptique après seulement quelques épisodes de binge drinking. La vulnérabilité à long terme à l’alcoolodépendance a été étudiée dans ces mêmes modèles animaux. Nos résultats démontrent que le binge drinking entraîne à la fois des atteintes de la substance blanche et de la substance grise qui peuvent être corrélées à des déficits d’apprentissage et de mémorisation. Chez l’animal nos résultats montrent que deux épisodes de binge drinking suffisent pour induire des perturbations importantes de certaines formes de plasticité synaptique hippocampique associées à des déficits d’apprentissage et de mémorisation. Ces atteintes semblent particulièrement impliquer les récepteurs NMDA du glutamate car les effets de l’alcool sont mimés par la kétamine et bloqués par la D-serine. De manière inquiétante, quelques épisodes de binge drinking à l’adolescence suffisent pour induire une forte motivation pour la consommation d’alcool à l’âge adulte associée à une plus grande anxiété et une moindre réactivité du noyau accumbens à l’alcool. Au total l’ensemble de ces résultats cliniques et précliniques suggèrent que le binge drinking est particulièrement toxique au niveau cérébral et augmente le risque d’alcoolodépendances à l’âge adulte.

Le binge drinking (c’est-à-dire la consommation excessive mais épisodique d’alcool, typique du milieu étudiant) constitue désormais un problème majeur de santé publique, en particulier chez les adolescents et jeunes adultes. Les conséquences psychologiques, interpersonnelles et sociétales de ce mode de consommation sont largement établies, mais ses effets cognitifs et cérébraux n’ont été investigués que durant cette dernière décennie. Il a ainsi été clairement montré, sur base d’études en neuropsychologie et en neurosciences, que les binge drinkers présentent des modifications marquées du fonctionnement cérébral. Cependant, ces études se sont centrées sur des tâches cognitives (explorant par exemple la mémoire, l’attention ou les fonctions exécutives) et les déficits émotionnels associés au binge drinking restent totalement inconnus malgré le rôle majeur joué par ces altérations dans le maintien des troubles liés à la consommation excessive d’alcool. Après un passage en revue des données relatives aux troubles cognitifs, nous présenterons ici des études récentes ayant exploré pour la première fois les déficits émotionnels dans le binge drinking ainsi que leurs corrélats cérébraux, sur base d’une approche multidisciplinaire combinant électrophysiologie et neuroimagerie. Les résultats montrent clairement que le binge drinking conduit, au-delà des altérations cognitives, à des déficits marqués pour le traitement de stimulations émotionnelles, déficits qui pourraient être impliqués dans le développement et le maintien des troubles liés à la consommation d’alcool. Enfin, les limites des connaissances actuelles seront décrites, de même que les perspectives majeures pour les recherches futures. En particulier, sur base de résultats obtenus récemment via une analyse en clusters sur une large population de binge drinkers, nous insisterons sur la nécessité de sortir de la vision unitaire du binge drinking afin de considérer les sous-types de binge drinkers, qui présentent de grandes variations aux niveaux psychologique et cognitif.

Plus de la moitié des jeunes de 17 ans en France déclaraient avoir bu au moins 5 verres en une occasion au cours du mois écoulé en 2011. Les étudiants s’engagent plus facilement dans des modes de consommation d’alcool à risque comme le binge drinking, que les jeunes du même âge non étudiants. Ce mode de consommation s’installe dans les habitudes des nouvelles générations d’étudiants (Spilka, 2012). Si de nombreuses données sont disponibles sur les conséquences aiguës de ces alcoolisations (hépatites aiguës, grossesses non désirées, violences, accidents de la route…), un intérêt croissant se porte sur les conséquences à moyen et long terme sur la qualité de vie, comme sur le fonctionnement neural et neurocognitif de ces pratiques. Ainsi, l’exploration de la qualité de vie liée à l’alcool permet de mieux comprendre le basculement d’une pratique sociétalement valorisée à un état pathologique. En complément, alors qu’il a été montré que le cerveau adolescent paraît particulièrement vulnérable à la toxicité de l’alcool , la pratique du binge drinking a été impliquée dans des altérations cognitives, notamment au niveau du contrôle inhibiteur préfrontal. La mise en évidence de ces altérations pourraient ouvrir une nouvelle voie thérapeutique. Des perspectives récentes proposent de confronter les altérations neurobiologiques aux difficultés émotionnelles retrouvées elles aussi dans le trouble d’usage d’alcool . Ces lectures complémentaires du phénomène de binge drinking permettent ainsi d’appréhender de façon innovante la transition d’un comportement socialement intégré vers le trouble d’usage d’alcool, en identifiant des mécanismes physiopathologiques communs et des sous-groupes plus à risque.

We provide a qualitative analysis of a system of nonlinear differential equations that model the spread of alcoholism through a population. Alcoholism is viewed as an infectious disease and the model treats it within a sir framework. The model exhibits two generic types of steady-state diagram. The first of these is qualitatively the same as the steady-state diagram in the standard sir model. The second exhibits a backwards transcritical bifurcation. As a consequence of this, there is a region of bistability in which a population of problem drinkers can be sustained, even when the reproduction number is less than one. We obtain a succinct formula for this scenario when the transition between these two cases occurs.

Binge drinking leads to brain damage. However, at present few studies have taken into account the continuity in the binge drinking phenomenon, and treated binge drinking as a clearly separable category from other types of drinking patterns. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether severity of binge drinking can predict specific neurocognitive changes in healthy young adults. A total of 121 students aged 18 to 25 were assessed by means of the three last questions of the Alcohol Use Questionnaire combined into binge score. The binge score was entered as a predictor of cognitive performance of the CANTAB Stop Signal Task including reaction time, inhibition processing time, and response adjustment. Anxiety and depression symptoms were also measured. Binge score significantly predicted less adjustment following failures, and faster reaction times. Binge score did not predict inhibition performance. Symptoms of depression and anxiety were not significantly related to binge score. Binge drinking in healthy young adults predicts impairment in response adjustment and fast reaction time, but is unrelated to inhibition. The study supports the view that binge drinking is a continuous phenomenon, rather than discrete category, and the findings are possibly shedding light on why binge drinkers continue their drinking pattern despite negative consequences. (JINS, 2016, 22, 38–46)

The goal of the current investigation was to address whether affective decision making would serve as a unique neuropsychological marker to predict drinking behaviors among adolescents. We conducted a longitudinal study of 181 Chinese adolescents in Chengdu city, China. In their 10th grade (ages 15–16), these adolescents were tested for their affective decision-making ability using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and working memory capacity using the Self-Ordered Pointing Test. Self-report questionnaires were used to assess academic performance and drinking behaviors. At 1-year follow-up, questionnaires were completed to assess drinking behaviors, and the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale was used to examine four dimensions of impulsivity: urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, and sensation seeking. Results indicated that those adolescents who progressed to binge drinking or exhibited consistent binge drinking not only performed poorly on the IGT but also scored significantly higher in urgency compared to those who never or occasionally drank. Moreover, better IGT scores predicted fewer drinking problems and fewer drinks 1 year later after controlling for demographic variables, the previous drinking behaviors, working memory, and impulsivity. These findings suggest that deficits in affective decision making may be important independent determinants of compulsive drinking and potentially addictive behavior in adolescents. (JINS, 2009, 15, 547–557.)

Young men are grossly over represented in Irish suicide statistics, yet this group is the least likely to use mental health services. This paper outlines why young men are reluctant to access mental health services, framing the problem in the context of risk factors for suicide such as binge drinking and social change. The paper argues that de-stigmatising mental illness and encouraging young men to seek help for emotional problems should be a priority for policymakers.

Objectives: There is a paucity of data concerning the prevalence of alcohol use disorders and binge drinking in the general hospital adult population in Ireland. We therefore examined the point-prevalence of alcohol use disorders and of binge drinking in the adult inpatient population of the acute wards of an Irish university teaching hospital. The secondary aim was to examine gender, age, and patient group (medical/surgical) as risk factors.

Method: We administered the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) to all consenting patients (n = 126) on the acute adult medical and surgical wards over one day.

Results: 76% of all inpatients on the acute medical and surgical wards were interviewed (n = 126) using the AUDIT.

Of the subjects 28% screened positive for an alcohol use disorder. Of these 91% were identified as binge drinkers.

A further 8% of the subjects screened positive for binge drinking but were not identified as having an alcohol use disorder.

Overall, 36% of the subjects screened positive for either an alcohol use disorder and/or for binge drinking using the AUDIT.

Male gender and under 65s were risk factors for both alcohol use disorders and binge drinking.

Conclusions: The high point-prevalences of alcohol use disorders and binge drinking in hospital inpatients in particular are a cause for concern as they may have illness complicated by or secondary to undiagnosed alcohol excess. As this population is an easily accessible group for screening, and clinical and economic evidence supports intervention, we recommend screening all acute hospital admissions for alcohol use disorders and binge drinking, followed by appropriate management.