Early Onset Drinking Predicts Greater Level But Not Growth of Alcohol-Induced Blackouts Beyond the Effect of Binge Drinking During Emerging Adulthood.

Abstract

Early onset drinking is associated with later heavy drinking and related consequences. Early drinking onset and binge drinking are also independently associated with blackouts, which are periods of amnesia for events during a drinking episode. The objective of this study was to examine how early onset drinking relates to changes in the frequency of experiencing blackouts across 3 years controlling for year-specific binge drinking.