# High-Intensity Drinking and Alcohol-Induced Blackouts among Young Adult Drinkers:  An Event-level Analysis

> **NIH NIH R01** · BROWN UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $670,366

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
One in three young adults engage in high intensity drinking (HID; 8+ drinks for women/10+ for men) in the past
year, placing them at risk for serious acute consequences of alcohol use (e.g., severe injury, overdose).
Further, one third to one half of young adult drinkers report alcohol-induced blackouts (AIB), an outcome
distinct from HID episodes. Most research to date on HID and AIB has been cross-sectional, retrospective, and
conducted exclusively in college students, revealing little about specific drinking events leading to HID or AIB.
Needed also are objective indicators of the topography of drinking during these events, which is feasible with
biosensor technology. Understanding more about drinking patterns, proximal antecedents and consequences
of HID and AIB is imperative to the continued development and refinement of effective interventions for the
most at-risk drinkers. The specific aims of this study are to: (1) elucidate the topography of drinking at the
event-level during naturally occurring drinking events characterized by HID and/or AIB, using both self-reported
drinking captured via ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and objective biosensor data; (2) determine
event-level behavioral antecedents (pregaming, drinking games, protective behavioral strategies) and
psychosocial antecedents (drinking motives, willingness, intentions, affect, social context), as well as positive
and negative consequences of HID events; (3) isolate event-level factors that increase AIB risk beyond level of
intoxication (co-use of other drugs, inadequate sleep, willingness, intentions); and (4) examine changes in
frequency of and associations among HID, AIB, and related negative consequences across three annual
assessments. First, key informant interviews (n=20-28) will be used to gather data on the relevance of
theoretically-based cognitive and behavioral factors, social context, affect and other factors in the prediction of HID,
as well as to identify consequences of HID for young adults. Next, in a measurement burst design, 200 young
adults will complete in-person assessments and three 30-day bursts of daily EMA assessments at 12-month
intervals, in combination with objective measurement of alcohol consumption using biosensor technology. We
seek to differentiate the event-level predictors and outcomes of HID and AIB relative to all other drinking
events, and relative to heavy episodic drinking (4+/5+ drinks), in order to isolate what places an individual at
unique risk for these particularly concerning outcomes. Multilevel models will be used to determine predictors
and outcomes as a function of whether each drinking event is characterized by HID or AIB. The results of the
proposed research will provide novel information on proximal predictors of these two public health concerns
among young adults. This innovative study will help to determine motivational targets for interventions, and in
doing so, provide theoretical and empirical bas...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9934953
- **Project number:** 5R01AA027495-02
- **Recipient organization:** BROWN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennifer Elizabeth Merrill
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $670,366
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-06-01 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9934953

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9934953, High-Intensity Drinking and Alcohol-Induced Blackouts among Young Adult Drinkers:  An Event-level Analysis (5R01AA027495-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9934953. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*