Underage and binge drinking (i.e., drinking to intoxication) are serious public health problems. The harms and hazards associated with excessive alcohol use in young people begs the question of what unexamined factors may be contributing to the problem. One possible variable that may be contributing to excessive drinking in young people is the new trend of consuming alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AmED). Despite a dramatic increase in the use of AmED in young people, little laboratory research has examined how these drinks alter objective and subjective measures of intoxication. The working hypothesis of this proposal is that there are two key reasons that explain why consumption of AmED may be riskier than alcohol consumption alone. First, consumption of AmED enhances the desire to drink alcohol. Elevated levels of desire to drink alcohol following AmED consumption may lead to risks that are both immediate (e.g., binge drinking) and long-term (e.g., alcohol dependence). Second, consumption of AmED leads to disconnect between subjective state and actual behavioral impairment. Decreased perceived intoxication, impairment, and sedation have been observed for AmED as compared to alcohol alone. However, most behavioral impairments are equally evident in response to AmED consumption as they are to alcohol alone. This disconnect between subjective state and actual behavioral impairment may explain many immediate risks of AmED use including heightened rates of accidents experienced by AmED consumers (as compared to alcohol alone consumers). This research will examine the acute effects of alcohol, energy drinks, AmED or a placebo beverage in social drinkers using laboratory-based methods. The effects of these beverages will be determined by performance on tasks that measure cognition, motor control, and the subjective effects of alcohol.
The specific aims of the proposed research are: 1) to determine whether the consumption of AmED leads to more drinking when compared with the consumption of alcohol alone, particularly in novice drinkers, and 2) to examine the disconnect between cognitive impairment, motor impairment, and subjective state for AmED as compared to alcohol alone. For both aims, novice drinkers will be compared to more experienced drinkers. Novice drinkers are considered to be a high risk population as they have less experience with alcohol and thus are less tolerant to alcohol. It is predicted that the differences between AmED and alcohol alone may be more pronounced in novice drinkers, since novice drinkers typically experience more sedative effects from alcohol. The results of these studies should elucidate how and why AmED may be riskier than alcohol alone. Consistent with AREA program objectives, this work will also expand undergraduate student research in human psychopharmacology and better enable students from Kentucky, a state traditionally underrepresented in biomedical sciences, to successfully advance in biomedical graduate programs.
Underage and binge drinking (i.e., drinking to intoxication) are serious public health problems, leading to a significant number of accidents, injuries, unsafe sexual activities and deaths. The goal of this project is to understand if the consumption of alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AmED) increases alcohol consumption and escalates binge drinking in young people to a greater degree than if alcohol is consumed alone. This research will provide information about how AmED consumption may be increasing the risks of alcohol consumption by creating a disconnect between subjective state and actual behavioral impairment, thus leading a drinker to perceive that he or she is less impaired than is actually the case.
| Marczinski, Cecile A; Stamates, Amy L; Maloney, Sarah F (2018) Differential development of acute tolerance may explain heightened rates of impaired driving after consumption of alcohol mixed with energy drinks versus alcohol alone. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol 26:147-155 |
| Marczinski, Cecile A; Fillmore, Mark T; Stamates, Amy L et al. (2018) Alcohol-Induced Impairment of Balance is Antagonized by Energy Drinks. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 42:144-152 |
| Marczinski, Cecile A (2017) How actions taken (or not) under alcohol influence inhibitory control and perceived impairment. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol 25:166-174 |
| Curran, Christine Perdan; Marczinski, Cecile A (2017) Taurine, caffeine, and energy drinks: Reviewing the risks to the adolescent brain. Birth Defects Res 109:1640-1648 |
| Marczinski, Cecile A; Fillmore, Mark T; Maloney, Sarah F et al. (2017) Faster self-paced rate of drinking for alcohol mixed with energy drinks versus alcohol alone. Psychol Addict Behav 31:154-161 |
| Peveler, Willard W; Sanders, Gabe J; Marczinski, Cecile A et al. (2017) Effects of Energy Drinks on Economy and Cardiovascular Measures. J Strength Cond Res 31:882-887 |
| Marczinski, Cecile A; Fillmore, Mark T; Stamates, Amy L et al. (2016) Desire to Drink Alcohol is Enhanced with High Caffeine Energy Drink Mixers. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 40:1982-90 |
| Marczinski, Cecile A; Hertzenberg, Heather; Goddard, Perilou et al. (2016) Alcohol-Related Facebook Activity Predicts Alcohol Use Patterns in College Students. Addict Res Theory 24:398-405 |
| Stamates, Amy L; Maloney, Sarah F; Marczinski, Cecile A (2015) Effects of artificial sweeteners on breath alcohol concentrations in male and female social drinkers. Drug Alcohol Depend 157:197-9 |
| Marczinski, Cecile A (2015) Can energy drinks increase the desire for more alcohol? Adv Nutr 6:96-101 |
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