This study addresses binge drinking in college as a risk factor for heavy drinking and alcohol dependence after college. A national probability sample of 1972 college students from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth (NLSY79) was interviewed in 1984 and reinterviewed again as adults in 1994. The short-term effects of binge drinking in college were assessed as well as the extent to which experiences of negative effects in college predicted patterns of alcohol use across the transition from college into postcollege years. As expected, college binge drinkers were comparatively more likely than nonbinge drinkers to experience one or more alcohol-related problems while in college. In addition, weighted estimates of DSM-IV-defined diagnostic criteria in logistic regression models indicated that the binge drinking patterns exhibited during the college years, for some former college students of both genders, posed significant risk factors for alcohol dependence and abuse 10 years after the initial interview, in conjunction with evidence of academic attrition, early departure from college and less favorable labor market outcomes.

Amnesia drinking episodes among a national probability sample of 12,686 young adults are examined at two points in their lives: when they were ages 19 to 26 in 1984 and 23 through 30 in 1988. Prospective blackout patterns of early onset, late onset, chronicity, and remission were analyzed using logistic regression statistical models. Results indicate that the relative risk of short-term memory loss while drinking is significantly associated with increased alcohol consumption, age of drinking onset, the number of alcoholic relatives, and, principally, with the individual's capacity to control drinking behavior. It is concluded that the blackout remission rate observed among a substantial proportion (68%) of young adults may not fit the progressive, irreversible model of alcoholism.

Drinking and smoking concurrence is examined in a national sample of 6,072 respondents. Results indicate that the two addictive behaviors are synergistically associated in the general population: persons who both drink and smoke tend to drink to a greater extent than nonsmokers; drinkers smoke more than nondrinkers and smokers drink more than nonsmokers. As predicted, a multivariate analysis of drinking and smoking covariance was significantly correlated with social group affiliation, both across the life span and proportionately among men and women. The social context of interpersonal relationships may therefore be a critical factor in the process of pharmacological conditioning and environmental reinforcement of the drinking and smoking habits. This report confirms the strong drinking and smoking covariation found among social drinkers and heavy alcohol consumers in clinical and experimental studies, suggesting that drinking and smoking may also be interrelated in the rehabilitative process. Finally, it is suggested that the present investigation extends the research literature on the drinking and smoking syndrome in several important respects. Various implications of the study are discussed.

This article is an analysis of stressful life events, the buffering hypothesis, and alcohol use in a national sample of 1,418 respondents 60 years of age and over. The results indicate that older adults who experience stressful losses are significantly more likely to drink excessively than those who have not experienced such losses or who have experienced them to a lesser extent. Increased drinking among older adults may therefore be a reaction to life circumstances in which alcohol represents an attempt to cope with traumatic loss, personal as well as within the kinship network. Supportive resources of spouse, family, friends, and church appear to have a stress-buffering effects that reduces the excessive-drinking response to life crisis. Data suggest, however, that older persons are vulnerable to the magnitude of losses experienced as they grow older and lose more of their family, friends, and peers. These stressors appear to seriously impact their drinking behavior and are not effectively buffered. Respondents report that drinking may increase during periods of prolonged exposure to emotionally depleting life change and loss, when supportive needs may exceed the capacities of personal and social support resources.

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