title: High-Intensity Drinking Among Young Adults in the United States: Prevalence, Frequency, and Developmental Change.
abstract: This study is the first to examine the developmental course of high-intensity drinking (i.e., consuming 10+ drinks in a row) across late adolescence and the transition to adulthood.
  
  
  
  National longitudinal data (N = 3,718) from Monitoring the Future were used to examine trajectories of 10+ high-intensity drinking from age 18 through 25/26 overall and across sociodemographic subgroups; results were compared with similar analysis of 5+ binge drinking trajectories.
  
  
  
  Results document that 10+ drinkers consume not just a greater quantity of alcohol on a given drinking occasion, but also engage in 5+ drinking more frequently than drinkers who do not report having 10 or more drinks. Developmental patterns for 10+ and 5+ drinking were similar, with peak frequencies reported at age 21/22. Greater peaks in both 10+ and 5+ drinking were documented among men and among college attenders, compared with women and nonattenders, respectively. However, there was a steeper decline in 10+ drinking after age 21/22, indicating that risk for consumption of 10 or more drinks in a row is more clearly focused on the early 20s. Patterns of developmental change in both behaviors were driven largely by college students: No significant age-related change in 10+ drinking was observed among men and women who did not go to college, and no significant age-related change in 5+ drinking was observed among female nonattenders.
  
  
  
  Findings underscore the importance of recognizing high-intensity drinkers as a unique high-risk group, and that college attendance is associated with particularly strong peaks in the developmental course of high-intensity drinking.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
authors.forename: Megan E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Patrick
authors.affiliation: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
authors.forename: Yvonne M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Terry-McElrath
authors.affiliation: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
authors.forename: Deborah D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Kloska
authors.affiliation: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Schulenberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000639:trends*; D000067292:Alcohol Drinking in College / Q000523:psychology; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006803:Human Development; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011897:Random Allocation; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014495:Universities / Q000639:trends; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Binge Drinking; College Attendance; Development; Extreme Binge Drinking; High-Intensity; Trajectories