Underage and binge drinking (i.e., drinking to intoxication) are serious public health problems. Despite substantial efforts to change this health risk behavior, current levels of binge drinking in young people in the U.S. appear to be relatively unchanged from year 2000 levels. The constancy of underage and binge drinking behavior in young people, despite increased attention to this crisis, 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 of 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 the consumption of AmED may be riskier than alcohol consumption alone. Mixing alcohol with another beverage with strong stimulant properties may decrease self-perceptions of intoxication and may increase the reinforcing properties of alcohol. In addition, the acute effects of alcohol impair impulse control, and this impairment may not be counteracted by co-administration of a stimulant. The proposed research will examine the acute effects of alcohol, energy drinks, AmED or a placebo beverage in social drinkers. The effects of these beverages will be determined by performance on tasks that measure neurocognitive control mechanisms and the subjective effects of alcohol.
The specific aims of the proposed research are: 1) to determine whether the consumption of AmED alters neurocognitive and subjective measures of intoxication compared to the consumption of alcohol alone, 2) to establish whether the consumption of AmED enhances priming of the motivation to drink alcohol compared with the consumption of alcohol alone, and 3) to examine whether the consumption of AmED enhances tolerance to alcohol compared to a similar history of the consumption of alcohol or energy drinks alone. The results of these studies should elucidate whether the consumption of AmED increases alcohol consumption and may be escalating binge drinking in young people. Consistent with AREA program objectives, the funding of this application 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 leading a drinker to perceive that he or she is less intoxicated and thus can consume more alcohol.
| 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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