CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 247Substance Abuse Treatment and OutcomesCoffee research and impactsAlcohol Consumption and Health Effects

Energy Drink Consumption and Increased Risk for Alcohol Dependence

Open access
Arria, Amelia M., Caldeira, Kimberly M., Kasperski, Sarah J., Vincent, Kathryn B., Griffiths, Roland R., O’Grady, Kevin E.·2011·Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research
DOI 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2010.01352.xPMC PMC3058776
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Energy drinks are highly caffeinated beverages that are increasingly consumed by young adults. Prior research has established associations between energy drink use and heavier drinking and alcohol-related problems among college students. This study investigated the extent to which energy drink use might pose additional risk for alcohol dependence over and above that from known risk factors. METHODS: Data were collected via personal interview from 1,097 fourth-year college students sampled from 1 large public university as part of an ongoing longitudinal study. Alcohol dependence was assessed according to DSM-IV criteria. RESULTS: After adjustment for the sampling design, 51.3%(wt) of students were classified as "low-frequency" energy drink users (1 to 51 days in the past year) and 10.1%(wt) as "high-frequency" users (≥52 days). Typical caffeine consumption varied widely depending on the brand consumed. Compared to the low-frequency group, high-frequency users drank alcohol more frequently (141.6 vs. 103.1 days) and in higher quantities (6.15 vs. 4.64 drinks/typical drinking day). High-frequency users were at significantly greater risk for alcohol dependence relative to both nonusers (AOR = 2.40, 95% CI = 1.27 to 4.56, p = 0.007) and low-frequency users (AOR = 1.86, 95% CI = 1.10, 3.14, p = 0.020), even after holding constant demographics, typical alcohol consumption, fraternity/sorority involvement, depressive symptoms, parental history of alcohol/drug problems, and childhood conduct problems. Low-frequency energy drink users did not differ from nonusers on their risk for alcohol dependence. CONCLUSIONS: Weekly or daily energy drink consumption is strongly associated with alcohol dependence. Further research is warranted to understand the possible mechanisms underlying this association. College students who frequently consume energy drinks represent an important target population for alcohol prevention.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2010.01352.x

Cites

4 of 4 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Arria et al. (2011) found membership remained a significant predictor of alcohol dependence (OR = 1.69) after holding other significant predictors constant.

    “Among fraternity and sorority members, Arria et al. (2011), using a sample of fourth-year students from a single institution (n = 975), found membership remained a significant predictor of alcohol dependence (OR = 1.69) after holding other significant predictors constant.”

    From The Influence of Fraternity and Sorority Involvement: A Critical Analysis of Research (1996–2013) (2014) · cites this paper as Arria et al. (2011)

    The Statistical Analyses section identifies 975 participants with complete data, and the Results section reports that fraternity/sorority involvement was significantly associated with alcohol dependence at the bivariate level. Our copy describes adjusted models but does not report that membership remained significant after adjustment or give an odds ratio of 1.69 for it. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Arria et al. (2011) found only parental history with alcohol produced comparable odds (OR = 1.68), followed by a typical number of drinks in a drinking day (OR = 1.30).

    “Only parental history with alcohol produced comparable odds (OR = 1.68), followed by a typical number of drinks in a drinking day (OR = 1.30).”

    From The Influence of Fraternity and Sorority Involvement: A Critical Analysis of Research (1996–2013) (2014) · cites this paper as Arria et al. (2011)

    The Methods (Measures and Statistical Analyses; page unavailable) include parental history of alcohol or drug problems and typical drinks per drinking day as variables in the alcohol-dependence analysis. The retrieved Results passage reports adjusted odds for energy-drink use, but not OR = 1.68 or OR = 1.30 for those two variables, so the quoted values and their ranking are not verified by our copy. (LLM, conf=0.76)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 36

  1. American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV 1994 American Psychiatric Press Washington, DC 4th ed.
  2. Armstrong TD Costello EJ Community studies on adolescent substance use, abuse, or dependence and psychiatric comorbidity. J Consult Clin Psychol 2002 70 6 1224 1239 12472299
  3. Arolfo M Yao L Gordon AS Diamond I Janak PH Ethanol operant self-administration in rats is regulated by adenosine A2 receptors. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2004 28 9 1308 1316 15365300
  4. Arria AM Caldeira KM Kasperski SJ O'Grady KE Vincent KB Griffiths RR Wish ED Increased alcohol consumption, nonmedical prescription drug use, and illicit drug use are associated with energy drink consumption among college students. J Addict Med 2010 4 2 74 80 20729975 PMC2923814
  5. Arria AM Caldeira KM O'Grady KE Vincent KB Fitzelle DB Johnson EP Wish ED Drug exposure opportunities and use patterns among college students: Results of a longitudinal prospective cohort study. Subst Abus 2008 29 4 19 38 19042196 PMC2614283
  6. Baer JS Student factors: Understanding individual variation in college drinking. J Stud Alcohol Suppl 2002 14 40 53 12022729
  7. Beck AT Rush AJ Shaw BF Emery G Cognitive therapy of depression 1979 The Guilford Press New York
  8. Carlson SR Johnson SC Jacobs P,C Disinhibited characteristics and binge drinking among university student drinkers. Addict Behav 2010 35 3 242 251 19926401
  9. Clauson KA Shields KM McQueen CE Persad N Safety issues associated with commercially available energy drinks. J Am Pharm Assoc 2008 48 3 e55 e63 18595815
  10. Ferreira SE de Mello MT Pompeia S de Souza-Formigoni ML Effects of energy drink ingestion on alcohol intoxication. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2006 30 4 598 605 16573577
  11. Gilbert RM Dietary caffeine and alcohol consumption by rats. J Stud Alcohol 1976 37 1 11 18 2809
  12. Grant BF Hasin DS Dawson DA The relationship between DSM-IV alcohol use disorders and DSM-IV major depression: Examination of the primary-secondary distinction in a general population sample. J Affect Disord 1996 36 113 128 8791180
  13. Heckman MA Sherry K Gonzalez de Mejia E Energy drinks: An assessment of their market size, consumer demographics, ingredient profile, functionality, and regulations in the United States. Compr Rev Food Sci Food Saf 2010 9 303 317 33467819
  14. Hindmarch I Rigney U Stanley N Quinlan P Rycroft J Lane J A naturalistic investigation of the effects of day-long consumption of tea, coffee and water on alertness, sleep onset and sleep quality. Psychopharmacology 2000 149 3 203 216 10823400
  15. Jackson KM Sher KJ Gotham HJ Wood PK Transitioning into and out of large-effect drinking in young adulthood. J Abnorm Psychol 2001 110 3 378 391 11502081
  16. Johnson EO Arria AM Borges G Ialongo N The growth of conduct problem behaviors from middle childhood to early adolescence: Sex differences and the suspected influence of early alcohol use. J Stud Alcohol 1995 56 6 661 671 8558898
  17. Knight JR Wechsler H Meichun K Seibring M Weitzman ER Schuckit MA Alcohol abuse and dependence among U.S. college students. J Stud Alcohol 2002 63 3 263 270 12086126
  18. Kunin D Gaskin S Rogan F Smith B Amit Z Caffeine promotes ethanol drinking in rats: Examination using a limited-access free choice paradigm. Alcohol 2000 21 3 271 277 11091031
  19. Mailliard WS Diamond I Recent advances in the neurobiology of alcoholism: The role of adenosine. Pharmacol Ther 2004 101 1 39 46 14729391
  20. Malinauskas BM Aeby VG Overton RF Carpenter-Aeby T Barber-Heidal K A survey of energy drink consumption patterns among college students. Nutr J 2007 6 35 41 17974021 PMC2206048
  21. Mann RE Sobell LC Sobell MB Pavan D Reliability of a family tree questionnaire for assessing family history of alcohol problems. Drug Alcohol Depend 1985 15 1-2 61 67 4017879
  22. Marczinski CA Fillmore MT Clubgoers and their trendy cocktails: Implications of mixing caffeine into alcohol on information processing and subjective reports of intoxication. Exp Clin Psychopharmacol 2006 14 4 450 458 17115872
  23. McCabe SE Schulenberg JE Johnston LD O'Malley PM Bachman JG Kloska DD Selection and socialization effects of fraternities and sororities on US college student substance use: A multi-cohort national longitudinal study. Addiction 2005 100 4 512 524 15784066
  24. Miller KE Energy drinks, race, and problem behaviors among college students. J Adolesc Health 2008a 43 5 490 497 18848678 PMC2575122
  25. Miller KE Wired: Energy drinks, jock identity, masculine norms, and risk taking. J Am Coll Health 2008b 56 5 481 490 18400659 PMC2562885
  26. Mundt MP Zakletskaia LI Fleming MF Extreme college drinking and alcohol-related injury risk. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2009 33 1 1532 1538 19485974 PMC2757258
  27. O'Brien MC McCoy TP Rhodes SD Wagoner A Wolfson M Caffeinated cocktails: Energy drink consumption, high-risk drinking, and alcohol- related consequences among college students. Acad Emerg Med 2008 15 5 453 460 18439201
  28. Oteri A Salvo F Caputi AP Calapai G Intake of energy drinks in association with alcoholic beverages in a cohort of students of the school of medicine of the University of Messina. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2007 31 10 1677 1680 17651468
  29. Reissig CJ Strain EC Griffiths RR Caffeinated energy drinks—A growing problem. Drug Alcohol Depend 2009 99 1-3 1 10 18809264 PMC2735818
  30. Sharma R Engemann SC Sahota P Thakkar MM Effects of ethanol on extracellular levels of adenosine in the basal forebrain: An in vivo microdialysis study in freely behaving rats. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2010 34 5 813 818 20184564 PMC2884072
  31. Sher KJ Walitzer KS Wood PK Brent EE Characteristics of children of alcoholics: Putative risk factors, substance use and abuse, and psychopathology. J Abnorm Psychol 1991 100 4 427 448 1757657
  32. Snel J Garattini S Coffee and caffeine: sleep and wakefulness Caffeine, coffee, and health 1993 255 290 Raven Press New York
  33. Thombs DL O'Mara RJ Tsukamoto M Rossheim ME Weiler RM Merves ML Goldberger BA Event-level analyses of energy drink consumption and alcohol intoxication in bar patrons. Addict Behav 2010 35 325 330 19954894
  34. Wechsler H Lee JE Kuo M Lee H College binge drinking in the 1990s: A continuing problem: Results of the Harvard School of Public Health 1999 College Alcohol Study. J Am Coll Health 2000 48 5 199 210 10778020
  35. Wu L Pilowsky DJ Schlenger WE Hasin D Alcohol use disorders and the use of treatment services among college-age young adults. Psychiatric Services 2007 58 2 192 200 17287375 PMC1831544
  36. Zakletskaia LI Mundt MP Balousek SL Wilson EL Fleming MF Alcohol-impaired driving behavior and sensation-seeking disposition in a college population receiving routine care at campus health services centers. Accid Anal Prev 2009 41 3 380 386 19393782 PMC2716654

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Arria, A. M., Caldeira, K. M., Kasperski, S. J., Vincent, K. B., Griffiths, R. R., & O’Grady, K. E.
Affiliations
Johns Hopkins University (US)
Corresponding author
Arria, Amelia M.
ORCID
Venue
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2010-11-12
Volume
35
Issue
2
Pages
365-375
ISSN
0145-6008 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1111/j.1530-0277.2010.01352.x
PMC
PMC3058776
OpenAlex
W2095829288
Cited by
247
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 30 · 2012: 24
FWCI
15.40
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
doi.wiley.com/10.1002/tdm_license_1.1 (tdm, 1754 d)
Locations
  • Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01-DA14845, R01 DA03890, R56DA014845, R01DA014845, R01DA003890)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Coffee research and impacts
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects
Keywords
energy drinks, alcoholism, caffeine consumption, university students, young adults, alcohol consumption, drinking frequency, alcohol prevention, risk factors
MeSH terms
Alcohol Drinking, Alcoholic Intoxication, Alcoholism, Beverages, Caffeine, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Surveys and Questionnaires, Risk Factors, Risk-Taking, Sex Factors, Social Problems, Students, Universities, Young Adult

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review