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Schedule:
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Columbia C (Hyatt Regency Washington, Washington, DC)
* noted as presenting author
Introduction: Heavy episodic drinking (HED), or consuming 4+/5+ (women/men) drinks in one occasion is prevalent among young adults and associated with harms. Recent research highlights that many drink beyond this threshold, or engage in “high-intensity drinking.” High-intensity relative to HED-only drinking is associated with elevated risk for harms, including an alcohol use disorder. When used, protective behavioral strategies (PBS) are shown to help drinkers limit their drinking and lower their odds of experiencing consequences. The current study aimed to assess whether use of PBS would be associated with reduced consequences on occasions they engaged in high-intensity drinking relative to HED-only drinking. In particular, we tested PBS as moderators of the association between high-intensity drinking and specific harms in order to determine whether this link was attenuated on days students used PBS.
Methods: Data were from a longitudinal measurement-burst design (14-day bursts across four semesters). The analytic sample included 433 college students who engaged in HED at least once. Participants provided 2,924 daily drinking reports. Each day, participants reported the number of standard drinks consumed and, on days with 1+ drinks, whether they used PBS and experienced a variety of negative drinking-related consequences that day. Specific PBS that focused on modifying drinking behavior, rather than amount of drinking, were examined as moderators of specific consequences.
Results: Three-level multi-level models revealed that students were less likely to report manner of drinking strategies (e.g., avoid drinking games) on high-intensity drinking days than on HED-only days. Use of serious harm reduction strategies (e.g., arrange a designated driver) did not differ on high-intensity drinking days vs. HED-only days. Moderation analyses indicated that use of manner of drinking strategies weakened the link between high-intensity drinking and passing out from drinking (OR = 0.513, CI = 0.266-0.989). Serious harm reduction strategies attenuated the link between high-intensity drinking and outcomes of failure to plan for someone to drive (OR = 0.566, CI = 0.355-0.902) and later-regretted sexual behaviors (OR = 0.003, CI = 0.001-0.010).
Conclusions: Some PBS may help college students reduce particular harms on high-intensity drinking occasions relative to HED-only drinking occasions. This study also illustrates the value of intensive measurement burst designs to study high-intensity drinking behavior in natural settings. Efforts focused on modifying drinking behavior and planning strategies to minimize harm should be emphasized in intervention, but additional strategies are needed to reduce specific harms when drinking at such high levels.
Methods: Data were from a longitudinal measurement-burst design (14-day bursts across four semesters). The analytic sample included 433 college students who engaged in HED at least once. Participants provided 2,924 daily drinking reports. Each day, participants reported the number of standard drinks consumed and, on days with 1+ drinks, whether they used PBS and experienced a variety of negative drinking-related consequences that day. Specific PBS that focused on modifying drinking behavior, rather than amount of drinking, were examined as moderators of specific consequences.
Results: Three-level multi-level models revealed that students were less likely to report manner of drinking strategies (e.g., avoid drinking games) on high-intensity drinking days than on HED-only days. Use of serious harm reduction strategies (e.g., arrange a designated driver) did not differ on high-intensity drinking days vs. HED-only days. Moderation analyses indicated that use of manner of drinking strategies weakened the link between high-intensity drinking and passing out from drinking (OR = 0.513, CI = 0.266-0.989). Serious harm reduction strategies attenuated the link between high-intensity drinking and outcomes of failure to plan for someone to drive (OR = 0.566, CI = 0.355-0.902) and later-regretted sexual behaviors (OR = 0.003, CI = 0.001-0.010).
Conclusions: Some PBS may help college students reduce particular harms on high-intensity drinking occasions relative to HED-only drinking occasions. This study also illustrates the value of intensive measurement burst designs to study high-intensity drinking behavior in natural settings. Efforts focused on modifying drinking behavior and planning strategies to minimize harm should be emphasized in intervention, but additional strategies are needed to reduce specific harms when drinking at such high levels.