The benefits of binge drinking

It's widely recognised that binge drinking is not all bad. In fact, many would argue it is all good. Of course selectively ignoring potential long-term health consequences. Professor Anna van Wersch, a psychologist in the University’s School of Social Sciences & Law, has published an outline of the binge drinking culture in Britain in this months Journal of Health Psychology.

Definitions of what constitutes a binge vary, but anything more than 3 or 4 drinks is generally considered excessive. Based on interviews with 32 drinkers the authors conducted a grounded theory analysis and outlined a conceptual model. Investigating the reasons for heavy drinking using a qualitative approach was motivated, at least in part, by the limitations of quantitative social psychology models. Subtle cultural and contextual factors that may influence drinking are not captured well under broad categories such as 'social norms' in models such as the theory of planned behaviour.

The authors asked what allows these social norms to persist and aimed to detail specific linkages that promote a cycle of drinking. They found people typically associated binge drinking with initiating interaction, escapism, and positive feelings. As a way to protect this outlet people minimize negative experiences and promote the positives. The mental neglect of potential harm is seen as changeable over the life-course as a function of changes in the self (e.g. more dutiful), and varying levels of responsibility and finance.

Whilst binge drinking can have harmful immediate and long-term effects the authors point out that it fulfills a need in society. Binge drinking appears to have positive affective consequences when people remain in control. This is seen by various academic commentators as ‘constrained ritual drinking’, ‘bounded hedonistic consumption’, ,‘sensuous indulgence of consuming happens in a planned, carefully controlled way’, or my favourite ‘controlled decontrolling of emotions’. It's all just a bit of catharsis, as Aristotle would have said.

Though clearly binge drinking isn't always just blowing off steam. Drinking outliers will be literally laid out in A & E wards and holding cells across the country. By reducing the binge drinking culture we restrict the likelihood of problematic anti-social behaviours. A restriction of alcohol supply may be a positive step. This is especially so, given the often cited relationship between liberal opening hours and reduced levels of binge drinking appears incidental. The authors also emphasize the importance of putting in place realistic alternatives to the stress-excess weekly work-binge drinking cycle. Though I wonder what these are?

Given recent research showing television advertisements increase our viewing pleasure, maybe theatre or other mechanisms that externally restrict our drinking for prolonged periods will make us enjoy it all the more, without endangering our health!

Binge eating, problem drinking, and pathological gambling: Linking behavior to shared traits and social learning

Abstract
Varied definitions of the construct impulsivity may account for inconsistencies in studies that examine its relationship to bulimic symptoms, pathological gambling, and alcohol abuse. We examined the influence of urgency, sensation seeking, lack of planning, and lack of persistence on these three addictive behavior patterns in 246 college students. In structural equation modeling analyses that included all four constructs, only urgency, defined as the tendency to act rashly when distressed, explained significant variance in symptom level for each of the three addictive behaviors. Sensation seeking related to frequency of gambling and drinking, but not to symptoms of abuse. Additionally, behavior specific expectancies moderated the effect of urgency on gambling for men and binge eating for women. Urgency may influence vulnerability to many types of addictive behaviors. However, whether or not individuals engage in drinking, gambling, or binge eating may be influenced by behavior specific expectancies.

Urgency may be a useful concept in the examination of suicide also. From a superficial examination of the concept it appears to include relevant factors (e.g. impulsivity, low mood, myopia, aggression).

Fischer et al. (In press)

Bowling Alone, Drinking Together

Alcohol consumption may be associated to a rich social life, but its abuse might be related to a poor social life. This paper investigates whether alcohol consumption is a socially enjoyed good (a complement of social relations) or a substitute for social relations based on a large sample of Italian individuals in 2002 and 2005. In particular, it explores whether the answer changes between use and abuse, beer, wine and spirits, youth and adults, controlling or not for family influence and unobserved heterogeneity, and for various forms of social relations. Controlling for a great number of covariates and allowing for non linear and identity-specific family interaction effects, they find that alcohol consumption is a socially enjoyed good and that family influence is important for drinking behaviour.

http://www.decon.unipd.it/assets/pdf/wp/20070055.pdf