Think You’ve Outgrown Your High School Years? When It Comes To Drinking, A New Study Suggests Maybe Not

Adults aged 35 to 60 are drinking at unprecedented rates, with those who binge drank in high school reporting more past 30-day high-risk drinking in midlife. And this link may be especially strong for women, according to a study just published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research Health. These trends are particularly concerning as health conditions, and biological processes common with aging put adults in midlife at greater health risk from alcohol use.

Twenty to 30 percent of all the 35- to 60-year-olds in the study reported binge drinking (four or more drinks for women, five for men), and one out of ten reported high-intensity drinking—having eight to ten drinks in one sitting. Compared to people who did not binge drink in high school, people in the study who binge drank at age 18 had higher rates of alcohol use on a range of alcohol use measures—typical number of drinks, maximum number of drinks, number of binge drinking episodes  and number of high-intensity drinking episodes. For example, among those who didn’t binge at age 18, only 20% reported binge drinking in midlife compared with 40% among those who did binge at age 18.

Alcohol use is one of the biggest contributors to illness and death for all adults, and alcohol use conveys even more risk for adults in midlife. Decreases in muscle mass and metabolism that are a part of the aging process may inhibit the body’s ability to process alcohol. People at this age more commonly have health conditions that are made worse by heavier drinking, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis.

While men drank more than women on all measures, the association between binge drinking in high school and high-intensity drinking in midlife was stronger for women. Women who reported binge drinking at age 18 were three times more likely to report high-intensity drinking in midlife; men were twice as likely to report high-intensity drinking if they binge drank at age 18. The researchers noted that alcohol use among women in midlife has risen steadily in recent years, while alcohol use among men has not.

Age and race/ethnicity were associated with drinking behaviors. Although alcohol use declined with age, still, one in five 60-year-olds reported binge drinking. And the link between high school binge drinking and maximum drinks was stronger at age 60 than at age 35. White participants reported higher typical and maximum drinks than other racial or ethnic groups. Previous studies have found that non-White drinkers may experience greater adverse outcomes from alcohol use, despite their lower rates of alcohol use frequency, quantity, and alcohol use disorder compared to whites

For the study, researchers examined data from more than 5000 surveys of adults aged 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, and 60 who have been participating in a national longitudinal study since twelfth grade to understand whether there were long-term connections between binge drinking in adolescence and alcohol use in midlife. Respondents were asked about drinking in the past 30 days, what their typical number and maximum number of drinks they drank on the days they drank.

Links between adolescent binge drinking and midlife alcohol use behaviors by age, sex, and race/ethnicity. M. Patrick, S. Peterson, Y. Pang, Y. Terry-McElrath.

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