title: Understanding binge drinking: introduction to the special issue.
abstract: Widespread interest in binge drinking, demonstrated by scientists, public policymakers, and educators, served as the impetus for assembling this special issue. The contents represent state-of-the-science conceptualizations and empirical work on the topic of binge drinking. This issue begins with 2 invited articles and contains a selection of empirical articles that reflect experimental and correlational designs, longitudinal studies of the course and correlates of binge drinking, and controlled-intervention trials. These articles address the construct validity of binge drinking as well as its utility as a high-risk marker in both theory-testing and intervention contexts. This introductory article discusses several advantages and disadvantages of continued use of the term binge drinking and suggests alternatives for use in research and applied contexts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Center for Health and Behavior, Syracuse University, New York 13244-4123, USA. kbcarcy@syr.edu
authors.forename: K B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Carey
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology* / Q000639:trends; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000523:psychology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014481:United States