NCJ Number
232998
Journal
Journal of Alcohol and Drug Education Volume: 54 Issue: 3 Dated: December 2010 Pages: 41-68
Date Published
December 2010
Length
28 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the health effects of combining alcohol and energy drinks among a sample of college students.
Abstract
The combined-use of alcohol and energy drinks (EDs) on college campuses and in communities has become a considerable public health concern. Among college students, intercollegiate athletes have been identified as being particularly at-risk for excessive alcohol consumption and resultant health and behavioral consequences. The main purpose of this study was to measure patterns of alcohol, combined-use, and ED-only use among men and women student-athletes (N = 401; 257 male, 144 female), and to investigate whether or not significant differences existed within combined-users on risk-taking and consequences when comparing alcohol-only to the combined-use of alcohol and EDs. Among alcohol drinkers (n = 315), 92 percent participated in alcohol binge drinking and 150 (47.6 percent) combined alcohol and EDs. Within combined-users, 68 of 107 males (63.6 percent) and 24 of 40 (60 percent) females reported participating in "energy-binge" drinking episodes (i.e., having 3 or more energy drinks on 1 occasion) when combining alcohol and EDs. When comparing alcohol-only use to combined-use within athletes who did both, results indicated that the combined-use of alcohol and EDs lead to a significant overall increase in reported risk-taking. There is a critical need to include more information about the effects of EDs and combined-use in existing substance abuse treatment and prevention programs. Tables, figure, references, and appendix (Published Abstract)