High‐Intensity Drinking in Adult Australian Twins

Abstract

Background: Many adult drinkers consume far beyond the binge threshold. This "high-intensity drinking" (HID), defined as 2 (HID-2) and 3 (HID-3) times the binge threshold, is of public health interest due to its role in acute alcohol-related harms. Research on HID has mostly been limited to college-aged young adults, focused on contextual factors, and neglected the potential role of genetic influences on the propensity to engage in HID.Methods: Structured diagnostic interviews assessing past-year alcohol involvement were conducted with 3,785 individuals (1,365 men, 2,420 women; M age = 32, range = 21 to 46), including 3,314 twins and 471 nontwin siblings from the Australian Twin Registry. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to compare HID-2 and HID-3 to binge drinking on demographic correlates, drinking characteristics, and drinking-related consequences. Biometric modeling was conducted to estimate the role of genetic, common, and individual-specific environmental factors in HID propensity.Results: Among past-year drinkers, the prevalence of HID-2 and HID-3 was both 22%, with men disproportionally represented. The frequencies of drinking, intoxication, and binge drinking significantly increased across the heavier drinking categories, which also evidenced higher average consumption quantities and higher rates of alcohol-related consequences. The propensity to engage in HID was significantly heritable (A = 37% [95% CI: 28 to 46%]), with individual-specific environmental influences accounting for the remainder of the variance.Conclusions: This study convincingly demonstrates that HID is not restricted to college-aged young adults, but also can be highly prevalent among those of working age, and that the propensity to engage in HID is partially explained by genetic influences.

Trends in binge drinking prevalence among older U.S. men and women, 2015 to 2019

“…34 Heavy drinking in women is associated with more drinking-related problems, greater social and occupational impairment, and more problems related to interpersonal conflict with spouses, friends, and family. 27,[35][36][37] Although our study estimated stability or even a slight (non-significant) decrease in prevalence of binge drinking among older women, it is important to continue to monitor these patterns. Research among those with alcohol use disorders has showed that women often begin consuming alcohol later in life, are older at their first intoxication, have a later onset of continuous alcohol consumption, and development of an alcohol use disorder.…”

Contextual factors associated with high‐intensity drinking events among young adults: A qualitative inquiry

“…Most participants were in college or college graduates, which did not allow for comparisons between young adults who do and do not go to college. Future work should attempt to recruit more young adults who do not go to college, as HID is also apparent in this population (Dash et al, 2020). Additionally, our sampling strategy did not center on obtaining large enough groups of both males and females, or frequent versus infrequent HID drinkers, that would permit comparisons across these dimensions.…”

High-Intensity Drinking among Adolescent and Emerging Adult Risky Drinkers

“…HID involves consumption of 8+ U.S. standard drinks for biological females and 10+ for biological males 2 . One in nine emerging adults report at least one past 2-week HID episode 3 with men having higher rates of HID versus women 4 – 7 . Peak HID prevalence occurs around ages 21–22 3 , 5 with men peaking (ages 21–22) prior to women (ages 21–24).…”