According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in their study released in 2006, in their survey of more than 43,000 subjects, binge drinkers had a higher rate of depression, antisocial personality disorder, and many other diagnoses, compared to those who had not binged in the past year. For example, among non-bingers, the rate of depression was 6.6 percent, compared to 9.8 percent among bingers. The percent of non-bingers with antisocial personality disorder was 2.6 percent, whereas it was 5.9 percent among bingers, more than a doubling of the rate of non-bingers.

In considering alcoholism (alcohol dependence), the rate among nonbingers was less than 1 percent, or 0.72 percent, while among bingers, the rate was 4.43 percent, more than quadruple the rate of the non-bingers. Bingers also had higher rates of anxiety disorders than non-bingers, including panic disorder, social phobia, specific phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder. Bingers also had a significantly higher percentage of drug abuse/dependence than non-bingers.

In general, male non-bingers and bingers had a higher rate of alcohol dependence and drug abuse/dependence, while women (including non-bingers and bingers) had a higher rate of psychiatric problems, such as major depression, which was about twice as common among female non-bingers compared to male non-bingers and nearly three times as common among female bingers compared to male bingers.

Males have a much higher rate of antisocial personality disorder than females. The general rate for males was 3.8 percent among non-bingers, compared to 7.4 percent among the bingers, a dramatic difference.

When males and female bingers are contrasted, it can be seen that the female bingers had a higher rate of alcoholism than the males: 4.0 percent of the male bingers were alcoholic versus 5.0 percent of the female bingers. In comparing females to females, the women bingers had a much higher rate of psychiatric disorders compared to the female nonbingers. For example, 8.7 percent of the non-binger females had major depression, compared to 14.7 percent of the female bingers.

On the basis of this information, it is clear that both male and female bingers have more serious psychiatric problems than those who do not engage in binge drinking.

According to Beth Nordstrom Bailey and colleagues in their 2004 article in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, prenatal exposure to binge drinking can have a profound impact on the children born to binge drinkers. It is already known that even moderate or light drinking may lead to fetal alcohol syndrome in infants born to drinking mothers. However, Nordstrom Bailey and her colleagues specifically looked at the effects of binge drinking alone on the children born to bingers. They found that the children exposed to binge drinking had nearly twice the risk (1.7) of having intelligence quotient (IQ) scores in the mentally retarded range. In addition, at age seven, the children were 2.5 times more likely to exhibit significant levels of acting out behavior than children born to nonbingers.

Say the researchers, "Results of the current study support the findings of other researchers who suggest that exposure to binge drinking has more deleterious consequences than the overall amount of exposure to alcohol during pregnancy. Binge drinking, which produces higher blood alcohol content, produces a higher threshold of exposure and exposes the fetus to alcohol for a longer period of time, both of which are likely to have a more profound effect on developing structures."

The researchers also expressed concern that pregnant women need to understand that "cutting back" on alcohol consumption is insufficient if the woman engages in drinking binges:

Pregnant women who drink heavily are routinely advised of the potential consequences and encouraged strongly to cease or at least to cut back intake. However, if cutting back involves drinking less often, but still consuming large amounts when intake occurs, [the] offspring may not experience improved outcomes. Understanding the consequences of prenatal exposure to binge drinking is especially important because surveys indicate that women of childbearing age who consume alcohol are more likely to binge than drink in a chronic heavy pattern.

References:

1)         Brewer, Robert D., M.D., and Monica H. Swahn. "Binge Drinking and Violence." Journal of the American Medical Association 294, no. 5 (August 3, 2005): 616-618.

2)         Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Global Status Report on Alcohol 2004. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2004.

3)         Johnston, Lloyd D., et al. Monitoring the Future: National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975-2004. Vol. 2, College Students and Adults Ages 19-45. Bethesda, Md.: National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, 2005.

4)         National Center for Health Statistics. Health United States, 2005 with Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans. Hyattsville, Md.: National Center for Health Statistics, 2005.

5)         National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. 2000 Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring: Annual Report, NCJ 193013. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, April 2003.

6)         National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Alcohol Use and Alcohol Use Disorders in the United States: Main Findings from the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). U.S. Alcohol Epidemiologic Data Reference Manual 8, no. 1 (January 2006). Bethesda, Md.: National Institutes of Health, January 2006.

7)         Nordstrom Bailey, Beth, et al. "Prenatal Exposure to Binge Drinking and Cognitive and Behavioral Outcomes at Age 7 Years." American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 191 (2004): 1,037-1,043.

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