title: Energy drink consumption and the risk of alcohol use disorder among a national sample of adolescents and young adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the association between energy drink use and hazardous alcohol use among a national sample of adolescents and young adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional analysis of 3342 youth aged 15-23 years recruited for a national survey about media and alcohol use. Energy drink use was defined as recent use or ever mixed-use with alcohol. Outcomes were ever alcohol use and 3 hazardous alcohol use outcomes measured with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): ever consuming 6 or more drinks at once (6+ binge drinking) and clinical criteria for hazardous alcohol use as defined for adults (8+AUDIT) and for adolescents (4+AUDIT).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among 15-17 year olds (n = 1508), 13.3% recently consumed an energy drink, 9.7% ever consumed an energy drink mixed with alcohol, and 47.1% ever drank alcohol. Recent energy drink use predicted ever alcohol use among 15-17-year-olds only (OR 2.58; 95% CI 1.77-3.77). Of these 15-17-year-olds, 17% met the 6+ binge drinking criteria, 7.2% met the 8+AUDIT criteria, and 16.0% met the 4+AUDIT criteria. Rates of energy drink use and all alcohol use outcomes increased with age. Ever mixed-use with alcohol predicted 6+ binge drinking (OR 4.69; 95% CI 3.70-5.94), 8+AUDIT (OR 3.25; 95% CI 2.51-4.21), and 4+AUDIT (OR 4.15; 95% CI 3.27-5.25) criteria in adjusted models among all participants, with no evidence of modification by age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Positive associations between energy drink use and hazardous alcohol use behaviors are not limited to youth in college settings.
authors.affiliation: Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH. Electronic address: Jennifer.A.Emond@dartmouth.edu.
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Emond
authors.affiliation: Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH; Section of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH.
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gilbert-Diamond
authors.affiliation: Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH; Department of Pediatrics, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH.
authors.forename: Susanne E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Tanski
authors.affiliation: Norris Cotton Cancer Center, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH; Department of Pediatrics, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH.
authors.forename: James D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Sargent
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D063425:Binge Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D061215:Energy Drinks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055815:Young Adult