Measured alcohol content in college party mixed drinks.

The main objective of this study was to measure the alcohol content in college party drinks. Samples of mixed drinks were collected from on-campus parties (N = 23) over a 12-week period at a university in the Northeast. Samples were analyzed by using a method that measures oxygen utilization during ethanol oxidation. Standard drink equivalents were calculated and blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) for men and women were estimated. The percent alcohol in sampled drinks ranged from 3.7% to 22.8%. Characteristics of the sampled parties were not related to drink concentration. A party drink at the median concentration and drink size contained 0.97 standard drinks. Estimated BACs varied widely depending on drink alcohol concentration, but in most cases a heavy drinking episode for both men and women resulted in an estimated BAC at or above .08. Mixed drinks at the sampled parties on average approximated one standard drink, but the variability in mixed drink strength compromises a drinker's ability to keep track of the number of drinks consumed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).

[1]  Marcia K. Johnson,et al.  Post-event review in older and younger adults: improving memory accessibility of complex everyday events. , 1998, Psychology and aging.

[2]  H Intraub,et al.  Looking at pictures but remembering scenes. , 1992, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[3]  Steve Hodges,et al.  Neuropsychological Rehabilitation , 2013 .

[4]  H. Swartzwelder,et al.  Do college students drink more than they think? Use of a free-pour paradigm to determine how college students define standard drinks. , 2003, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research.

[5]  T. Greenfield,et al.  Estimates of the mean alcohol concentration of the spirits, wine, and beer sold in the United States and per capita consumption: 1950 to 2002. , 2006, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research.

[6]  M. Clark,et al.  Attendance at alcohol-free and alcohol-service parties and alcohol consumption among college students. , 2010, Addictive behaviors.

[7]  Simon Kemp,et al.  Themes, events, and episodes in autobiographical memory , 2003, Memory & cognition.

[8]  H. Wechsler.  Alcohol and the American College Campus: A Report from the Harvard School of Public Health , 1996 .

[9]  Daniel L. Schacter,et al.  False recollection induced by photographs: a comparison of older and younger adults. , 1997 .

[10]  Roger W. Byard,et al.  CDC Growth Charts , 2010 .

[11]  Jonathan M. Golding,et al.  Intentional forgetting: Interdisciplinary approaches. , 1998 .

[12]  Henry Wechsler,et al.  Magnitude of alcohol-related mortality and morbidity among U.S. college students ages 18-24. , 2002, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[13]  T. Hubbard,et al.  Boundary extension: Findings and theories , 2010, Quarterly journal of experimental psychology.

[14]  Simon Kemp,et al.  Ordering the components of autobiographical events. , 2008, Acta psychologica.

[15]  W. Miller,et al.  Estimating blood alcohol concentration: two computer programs and their applications in therapy and research. , 1979, Addictive behaviors.

[16]  Carrie B. Fried,et al.  In-class laptop use and its e V ects on student learning , 2006 .

[17]  Ralph Hingson,et al.  Magnitude of alcohol-related mortality and morbidity among U.S. college students ages 18-24: changes from 1998 to 2001. , 2005, Annual review of public health.

[18]  Patrick M O'Malley,et al.  Epidemiology of alcohol and other drug use among American college students. , 2002, Journal of studies on alcohol. Supplement.

[19]  Carman Neustaedter,et al.  Using physical memorabilia as opportunities to move into collocated digital photo-sharing , 2009, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[20]  Robyn Fivush,et al.  As time goes by: Sixth graders remember a kindergarten experience , 1991 .

[21]  H. Wechsler,et al.  Underage College Students' Drinking Behavior, Access to Alcohol, and the Influence of Deterrence Policies: Findings from the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study , 2002, Journal of American college health : J of ACH.

[22]  Patrick M. O'Malley,et al.  Monitoring the Future: National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975-2006. Volume II: College Students & Adults Ages 19-25. NIH Publication No. 07-6206. , 2007 .

[23]  S. McKelvie,et al.  Effects of attendance, note-taking, and review on memory for a lecture: Encoding vs. external storage functions of notes. , 1986 .

[24]  Geri Gay,et al.  The laptop and the lecture: The effects of multitasking in learning environments , 2003, J. Comput. High. Educ..

[25]  Lindsay S. Ham,et al.  College students and problematic drinking: a review of the literature. , 2003, Clinical psychology review.

[26]  I. Hyman,et al.  Did you see the unicycling clown? Inattentional blindness while walking and talking on a cell phone , 2009 .

[27]  B. Harrison.  Photographic visions and narrative inquiry , 2002 .

[28]  R. Chalfen,et al.  Family photograph appreciation : Dynamics of medium, interpretation and memory , 1998 .

[29]  Daniel L. Schacter,et al.  Facilitation and impairment of event memory produced by photograph review , 1999, Memory & cognition.

[30]  S. Malinen,et al.  Investigating the structure of autobiographical memory using reaction times , 2009, Memory.

[31]  Henry Wechsler,et al.  Attendance and alcohol use at parties and bars in college: a national survey of current drinkers. , 2002, Journal of studies on alcohol.

[32]  J. Clapp,et al.  Deconstructing Contexts of Binge Drinking Among College Students , 2000, The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse.

[33]  P. Hasking,et al.  University Students' Knowledge of Alcoholic Drinks and Their Perception of Alcohol-Related Harm , 2005, Journal of drug education.