Keeping your balance: freedom and regulation in female university students' drinking practices.

Binge drinking is a focus for concerns about young women's alcohol consumption at university. Twenty females, all regular binge drinkers, were interviewed individually and in focus groups to explore alcohol beliefs and exposure to harm. Four themes were identified in a thematic analysis. Alcohol use was associated with freedom but regulated by group norms. Drinking to excess was stigmatized as an abuse of freedom, yet the threshold for excess was very high. The drug effects of alcohol were enjoyed, with drinking harms managed through trivialization. As part of a problem of imbalance, peer groups must be part of the solution.