Longitudinal examination of high‐risk drinking contexts: Daytime drinking, pregaming, and drinking games linked to high‐risk alcohol use and negative consequences in young adults

Abstract

Background The contexts in which young adults drink alcohol play a salient role in alcohol‐related outcomes and negative consequences at an event‐level, but less is known about longitudinal risks. We collected longitudinal monthly data across 2 years on (a) daytime drinking, (b) pregaming/pre‐partying, and (c) playing drinking games. We then examined associations between drinking in these contexts and within‐person variability in alcohol consumption, consequences, and simultaneous alcohol and marijuana (SAM) use in a given month. We also examined the extent to which drinking in these contexts predicted hazardous drinking (using Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) scores) at a distal follow‐up timepoint, controlling for baseline AUDIT scores. Method A community sample of 759 young adults (Mage = 21.1 years; 56.4% female) completed monthly surveys for 24 consecutive months and a distal 30‐month follow‐up. Multilevel models estimated within‐ and between‐person associations between drinking context frequencies (daytime drinking, pregaming, drinking games) and alcohol‐related outcomes (weekly consumption, consequences, SAM use). A single‐level negative binomial regression tested associations between drinking context frequency averages across a two‐year period and changes in AUDIT scores from baseline to a follow‐up 2.5 years later. Results Over 75% of the sample of non‐abstaining young adults reported drinking in each of the three contexts at least once during the 24‐month period. Within‐persons, young adults reported greater consumption, more negative consequences, and increased likelihood of SAM use during months that they drank in these contexts more often than usual. Each context was associated with negative consequences, even when controlling for alcohol use frequency. More frequent daytime drinking and pregaming, but not drinking games, were associated with increases in AUDIT scores at the 30‐month follow‐up, suggesting that there are potential long‐term risks of drinking in these contexts. Conclusions Findings suggest that daytime drinking, pregaming, and playing drinking games are high‐risk contexts in terms of month‐to‐month and long‐term risks. Additional research is needed on the various contexts in which young adults drink alcohol and the extent to which contextual factors interact with one another to amplify/reduce risks and harms.

Food and alcohol disturbance, alcohol use, and negative consequences among college students engaging in binge drinking: A longitudinal examination of between- and within-person effects.

“…This finding suggests that college students who engage in FAD-intoxication may be at increased risk of future alcohol use. This is consistent with our hypothesis and in alignment with the previous literature illustrating that enhancement and coping drinking motives longitudinally anticipate alcohol use (Irizar et al, 2021; Stevenson et al, 2019) Moreover, our finding is consistent with prior work demonstrating that students who engage in drinking behaviors that facilitate rapid and intense alcohol consumption (e.g., drinking games, pregaming) are more likely to report higher levels of subsequent alcohol use compared to those who do not follow this drinking pattern (Graupensperger et al, 2023). Last, our results align with Glassman et al (2018) findings that targeting FAD via a messaging-based intervention leads to decreases in future alcohol use.…”

“…In addition, there is empirical support for risky drinking behaviors predicting future alcohol use and negative consequences. Specifically, Graupensperger et al (2023) found that participating in drinking behaviors that facilitate rapid and intense alcohol consumption (e.g., drinking games, pregaming) positively associates with same-month alcohol consumption and related negative consequences and predicts future hazardous drinking at the within-person level. Importantly, to allow enough time for attitudes and beliefs related to risky drinking behaviors to shift, longer time between assessments (e.g., several weeks) may be preferable to shorter assessment intervals (e.g., daily).…”