title: Classifying risky-drinking college students: another look at the two-week drinker-type categorization.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study examined the effectiveness of the 2-week period currently used in the categorization of heavy episodic drinking among college students. Two-week drinker-type labels included the following: nonbinge drinker, binge drinker, and frequent binge drinker.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three samples of college student drinkers (104 volunteers, 283 adjudicated students, and 238 freshmen male students) completed the 3-month Timeline Followback assessment of drinking. Drinking behavior during the last 2 weeks of the month before the study was compared with drinking behavior during the first 2 weeks of the same month to compare behavior and resulting labels during both 2- week periods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Inconsistencies existed in drinker-type labels during the first 2 weeks of the month and the last 2 weeks of the month for all three samples. Between 40% and 50% of participants in the three samples were classified as a different drinker type across the month. Nonbinge drinkers experienced a wide range of alcohol-related problems, and much variation existed among the frequent-binge-drinker label.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that the current definition needs to be modified to accurately identify risky-drinking college students. Expanding the assessment window past 2 weeks of behavior, as well as developing different classification schemes, might categorize risky drinkers more accurately.
authors.affiliation: Loyola Marymount University, Department of Psychology, 1 LMU Drive, Suite 4700, Los Angeles, California 90045, USA. jlabrie@lmu.edu
authors.forename: Joseph W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: LaBrie
authors.forename: Eric R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Pedersen
authors.forename: Summer
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tawalbeh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D010507:Periodicity; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors