title: Associations between binge drinking frequency and tobacco use among young adults.
abstract: Tobacco use is greater among young adults who binge drink; yet there is limited research on tobacco use characteristics among different types of binge drinkers based on frequency. We aimed to characterize this relationship among young adults (18-25years old) who used both substances in the past month (smoked ≥1 cigarette, and drank ≥1 alcoholic beverage) using an anonymous online survey. Participants (N=1405, 65.0% male) were grouped based on binge drinking frequency and compared for tobacco use characteristics and demographics using bivariate analyses and multinomial logistic regression. Binge drinking frequency groups were: non-binge drinkers who consumed alcohol (0days; 27.5%); occasional (1-3days; 37.9%); intermediate (4-8days; 21.9%); and frequent (9+days; 12.7%) binge drinkers. Comparing each binge drinking group to non-binge drinkers: Both occasional and frequent binge drinkers smoked more cigarettes per day (p=0.001; p=0.002); frequent binge drinkers reported greater temptations to smoke in positive affective/social situations (p=0.02); intermediate binge drinkers were less likely to have a tobacco abstinence goal (p=0.03) but more likely to have made a serious tobacco quit attempt; all of the binge groups were more likely to be social smokers (all p<0.01). Overall, we also found a high rate of smoking on binge drinking days. Individuals smoked cigarettes on 85.7%±32.9% of days they binge drank. Extent of binge drinking (not just prevalence) is an important factor influencing smoking characteristics in young adults.
authors.affiliation: Center for Tobacco Control Research & Education, University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States. Electronic address: noah.gubner@ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Noah R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Gubner
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Kevin L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Delucchi
authors.affiliation: Center for Tobacco Control Research & Education, University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States; Department of Psychiatry and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States.
authors.forename: Danielle E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Ramo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D063425:Binge Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000073865:Cigarette Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Alcohol; Binge drinking; Heavy episodic drinking; Tobacco; Young adult