title: Binge drinking: not the word of choice.
abstract: Educators and researchers strive to use terms that reflect a replicable measure of behavior. A term commonly used to describe drinking of a problematic nature is binge drinking. Binge drinking defines behavior by a number of drinks of an alcoholic beverage consumed in a space of time. The authors argue that the term does not describe drinking behavior that students believe is problematic. They claim that students define problem drinking not in terms of quantity, but rather by the outcome (and occasionally by frequency), and attribute different negative connotations to the term binge. They suggest using a term that has shared meaning with students, such as dangerous drinking, to describe the drinking behavior that results in undesirable or unintended consequences.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Education, Rutgers University Health Services, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901-1180, USA. goodhart@rci.rutgers.edu
authors.forename: Fern Walter
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Goodhart
authors.forename: Linda C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Lederman
authors.forename: Lea P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Laitman
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D000431:Ethanol / Q000506:poisoning*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D009626:Terminology as Topic
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol