Development and Initial Validation of the Hangover Symptoms Scale: Prevalence and Correlates of Hangover Symptoms in College Students

Abstract

Background: Despite its ubiquity, hangover has received remarkably little systematic attention in alcohol research. This may be due in part to the lack of a standard measure of hangover symptoms that cleanly taps the physiologic and subjective effects commonly experienced the morning after drinking. In the present study, we developed and evaluated a new scale, the Hangover Symptoms Scale (HSS), to potentially fill this void.Methods: Participants were 1230 currently drinking college students (62% women, 91% Caucasian). They were administered a self-report inventory in which they reported the frequency of occurrence of 13 different hangover symptoms during the past 12 months. Participants also reported their history of alcohol involvement, alcohol-related problems, and family history of alcohol-related problems.Results: On average, participants experienced 5 out of 13 different hangover symptoms in the past year; the three most common symptoms were feeling extremely thirsty/dehydrated, feeling more tired than usual, and headache. Higher scores on the HSS were significantly positively associated with the frequency of drinking and getting drunk and the typical quantity of alcohol consumed when drinking, a personal history of alcohol-related problems, and a family history of alcohol-related problems. After controlling for sex differences in alcohol involvement, women had higher scores on the HSS than men.Conclusions: The HSS appears to capture a reasonably valid set of adjectives describing common hangover effects. It is hoped that the availability of a brief, valid hangover assessment such as the HSS will encourage further study of hangover's frequency, correlates, and consequences. Future research is needed to explore the performance of a re-worded HSS in laboratory settings, which may help bridge the gap between laboratory and survey investigations of hangover.

Prevalence and associated factors with alcohol use disorders among adults: a population-based study in southern Brazil

“…In terms of cultural aspects, in some societies, alcohol use is considered a demonstration of masculinity, and women are prohibited from consuming alcohol as a sign of submission to men 30 . Physiological differences between men and women were also reported as lower proportional quantities of liquid and higher gastric metabolic rates in women 31 . In terms of age, alcohol use disorders were observed in younger people.…”

Low Sensitivity to Alcohol: Relations With Hangover Occurrence and Susceptibility in an Ecological Momentary Assessment Investigation

“…In some prior studies, individuals with a family history of alcohol problems have been found to report more frequent hangovers, compared with other drinkers (e.g., Newlin and Pretorius, 1990;Piasecki et al, 2005;Slutske et al, 2003). Low alcohol sensitivity was identifi ed as a risk factor for AUD based on familial high-risk studies; sons of alcoholics were found to display diminished responses to alcohol challenge compared with offspring of nonalcoholics (Schuckit, 1980).…”

“…Prior analyses of these data established the validity of the morning-report hangover item (Robertson et al, 2012). Specifi cally, hangover was related to the number of drinks consumed the night before, contemporaneous elevations of headache and nausea, and scores on the Hangover Symptoms Scale (Slutske et al, 2003), a retrospective measure of past-year hangover symptoms.…”

The Acute Hangover Scale: A new measure of immediate hangover symptoms

“…Survey instruments (e.g., Slutske et al, 2003) were not developed for use in acute situations and the items were not necessarily derived from experimental investigations. Some experiments have used items assessing withdrawal rather than hangover (e.g., McCaul et al, 1991;Span & Earlywine, 1999) or hangover symptoms plus cognitive reactions such as guilt (e.g., Span & Earlywine, 1999) or hangover symptoms plus a withdrawal sign invalid for hangover (Kruisselbrink et al, 2006) or gave no information about item selection or validity (e.g., Finnigan et al, 2005).…”