Centre for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University, Melbourne, VIC 3122, Australia.
Centre for Trials Research, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4YS, UK.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jul 16;18(14):7579. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18147579.
There is a growing body of scientific literature examining the effects of alcohol mixed with energy drink (AMED) on alcohol consumption and related negative consequences, such as risky behavior or negative health effects. It is unknown whether differences in cultural context may influence these AMED effects. The current cross-cultural study compared the data of N = 6881 students from The Netherlands (N = 4424), UK (N = 1594), and Australia (N = 863). Demographics, alcohol consumption, its consequences, and motives for AMED consumption were assessed. Analyses included (a) between-groups comparison of AMED and alcohol only (AO) consumers, (b) within-subjects comparison of AMED and AO occasions among AMED consumers only, and (c) comparisons between the three countries. The between-groups analysis revealed that AMED consumers drink more alcohol than AO consumers ( < 0.001). AMED consumers differed from AO consumers in many other aspects. For example, AMED consumers were significantly more often a smoker and had higher risk-taking scores. Within subject analysis among AMED consumers showed that significantly less alcohol was consumed on AMED, compared to AO occasions ( < 0.001). These findings were observed for both typical drinking occasions and the past month's heaviest drinking occasion, and were consistent across the three countries. Comparisons between countries revealed that on both AMED and AO occasions, the UK sample consumed significantly more alcohol than the Australian and Dutch samples. Across countries, neutral motives such as 'I like the taste' and 'I wanted to drink something else' were the most frequently reported motives for consuming AMED. The most notable difference between the countries was the finding that consuming AMED 'To get drunk' was endorsed significantly more often among the UK sample (45.6%) than the Australian (31.2%) and Dutch (8.0%) samples. Negative alcohol-related consequences were significantly less frequently reported for AMED occasions compared to AO occasions. Some country-specific consequences of AMED consumption were observed, but these were more likely related to characteristics of the country and their drinking culture (e.g., the Australian sample reported more often driving a car after AMED consumption compared to the other countries, and this pattern of results was also found for AO occasions). In conclusion, there were limited differences between countries with regard to demographics of consumers and motives for AMED consumption, but the UK sample consumed significantly more alcohol and reported the highest frequency of negative alcohol related consequences. Consistent across countries was the observation that AMED consumers consume significantly less alcohol on their past month heaviest AMED drinking occasion, compared to their past month heaviest AO drinking occasion.
越来越多的科学文献研究了酒精混合能量饮料（AMED）对酒精消费和相关负面影响的影响，例如冒险行为或负面健康影响。目前尚不清楚文化背景的差异是否会影响这些 AMED 效应。本项跨文化研究比较了来自荷兰（n=4424）、英国（n=1594）和澳大利亚（n=863）的 6881 名学生的数据。评估了人口统计学、酒精消费、其后果以及 AMED 消费的动机。分析包括：（a）AMED 和仅含酒精（AO）消费者之间的组间比较；（b）仅在 AMED 消费者中进行 AMED 和 AO 场合的个体内比较；（c）三国之间的比较。组间分析显示，AMED 消费者的饮酒量多于 AO 消费者（<0.001）。与 AO 消费者相比，AMED 消费者在许多其他方面也存在差异。例如，AMED 消费者吸烟和冒险行为的得分明显更高。在 AMED 消费者中进行的个体内分析显示，与 AO 场合相比，在 AMED 时摄入的酒精明显减少（<0.001）。这些发现适用于典型的饮酒场合和过去一个月中最严重的饮酒场合，并且在三个国家中是一致的。国家之间的比较显示，在 AMED 和 AO 场合，英国样本的饮酒量均明显高于澳大利亚和荷兰样本。在所有国家中，中性动机（例如“我喜欢这种味道”和“我想喝别的东西”）是最常报告的 AMED 消费动机。国家之间最显著的差异是发现，与澳大利亚（31.2%）和荷兰（8.0%）相比，英国样本（45.6%）更常报告“喝醉”是饮用 AMED 的主要原因。与 AO 场合相比，AMED 场合的负面酒精相关后果报告频率明显较低。观察到一些 AMED 消费的特定国家后果，但这些后果更可能与国家及其饮酒文化的特征有关（例如，与其他国家相比，澳大利亚样本在 AMED 消费后更常开车，这一结果模式也适用于 AO 场合）。总之，在消费者人口统计学特征和 AMED 消费动机方面，各国之间的差异有限，但英国样本的饮酒量明显更多，报告的负面酒精相关后果频率最高。一致的是，观察到 AMED 消费者在过去一个月中 AMED 饮酒量最大的场合比过去一个月中 AO 饮酒量最大的场合摄入的酒精明显减少。
