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William C. Kerr, PhD, Alcohol Research Group, 2000 Hearst Ave. Suite 300, Berkeley, CA 94709, 510 642-5208, wkerr@arg.org, Thomas K. Greenfield, PhD, Public Health Institute, Alcohol Research Group, 2000 Hearst Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709, and Lorraine T. Midanik, PhD, School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley, 120 Haviland Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-7400.
While research on alcohol consumption and related problems typically focuses on measures such as the number of drinks consumed or the number of occasions on which the respondent drank five or more drinks, individuals may think about drinking in terms of its perceived effects. In the 1979, 1995 and 2000 National Alcohol Surveys respondents reported the number of drinks it takes them to feel drunk and the frequency of occasions on which they get drunk in the past year. The central focus of this paper is the subjective definition of being drunk, in terms of the number of drinks and the factors that predict subjective drunkenness. Results indicate that the average number of drinks to get drunk reported in these surveys has declined over time from 5.7 to 4.6 to 4.1 for women and from 9.8 to 7.5 to 6.7 for men in 1979, 1995 and 2000 respectively. This pattern remained significant after controlling for alcohol volume, the frequency of drunkenness and demographic factors. We also found that a larger number of drinks to get drunk are reported by men, those with lower levels of education and those with a larger volume of alcohol consumption. Compared to Whites, African-American men and women took fewer drinks to be drunk while Hispanic men, but not women, took more drinks. Results indicate that subjective drunkenness, which can be influenced by social factors, may be an important moderator of drinking behavior.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.