“…In the general population, binge drinking is associated with lower socioeconomic status (SES) (Droomers, Schrijvers, Stronks, van de Mheen & Mackenbach, 1999;Moore, Smith & Catford, 1994), and unemployment has been found to contribute to the development of problem drinking (Claussen, 1999). However, among young adults there is less consistent evidence for a link between measures of SES and binge drinking (Casswell, Pledger & Hooper, 2003;de Visser et al, in press;Measham, 1996;Muthén & Muthén, 2000), probably because these men are in a transitional phase when measures of SES are subject to change. In addition to these SES factors, previous research has highlighted the influence on alcohol consumption of peer influences (Kuntsche et al, 2004) and perceptions of peer drinking norms (Johnston & White, 2003).…”