Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, 121 South Main Street, Providence, RI 02903, USA.
Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University School of Public Health, 121 South Main Street, Providence, RI 02903, USA.
Alcohol Alcohol. 2023 Mar 10;58(2):190-197. doi: 10.1093/alcalc/agac066.
This study used event-level data to identify the threshold (i.e. number of standard alcoholic drinks) at which specific negative and positive alcohol-related consequences are likely to occur.
Ninety-six college students aged 18-20 reporting weekly heavy episodic drinking (HED) or at least one negative alcohol-related consequence in the past 2 weeks completed ecological momentary assessment over 28 days. Participants reported number of standard drinks consumed and negative (e.g. nausea) and positive (e.g. new friend) alcohol-related consequences on 492 drinking nights. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve measured the ability of an increasing number of drinks consumed to discriminate between nights with versus without a given consequence. The Youden Index method was used to identify the optimal threshold of drinks for each consequence. Thresholds were examined for each consequence by participants' biological sex and heavy drinking status.
Across subgroups, most consequences occurred on nights where participants reported higher consumption levels relative to nights where consequences did not occur. Thresholds for negative consequences ranged between four and nine drinks and thresholds for positive consequences were between three and six drinks.
Many negative consequences are likely to occur following the traditional HED threshold of 4+/5+ drinks (females/males), with more severe consequences occurring at slightly higher thresholds. Positive consequences are likely to occur at lower thresholds. There may be an optimal number of drinks that maximize positive while minimizing negative consequences for heavy drinking college students.
本研究使用事件水平数据来确定特定的负面和正面与酒精相关的后果可能发生的阈值（即标准酒精饮料的数量）。
96 名年龄在 18-20 岁之间的大学生，在过去 2 周内每周有大量饮酒（HED）或至少有一次负面的与酒精相关的后果，他们在 28 天内完成了 492 个饮酒夜晚的生态瞬时评估。参与者报告了他们在 492 个饮酒夜晚中消耗的标准饮料数量，以及负面（例如恶心）和正面（例如新朋友）与酒精相关的后果。接收器操作特征曲线（AUROC）的面积衡量了消耗的饮料数量增加与特定后果之夜与无特定后果之夜之间的区分能力。使用约登指数法确定每个后果的最佳阈值。根据参与者的生物性别和大量饮酒状况，对每个后果的阈值进行了检查。
在各亚组中，大多数后果发生在参与者报告的饮酒量相对较高的夜晚，而在没有发生后果的夜晚则较低。负面后果的阈值范围在四到九杯之间，而正面后果的阈值在三到六杯之间。
许多负面后果可能在传统的 HED 阈值 4+/5+（女性/男性）之后发生，更严重的后果发生在略高的阈值上。正面后果可能在较低的阈值下发生。对于大量饮酒的大学生来说，可能存在一个最佳的饮酒量，可以最大限度地提高正面影响，同时最小化负面影响。
