Past year high-intensity drinking moderates the association between simultaneous alcohol and marijuana use and blackout frequency among college students

Abstract

Objective: The role of simultaneous alcohol and marijuana (SAM) use in the experience of blackouts among college students is unclear. To clarify discrepancies, the current study evaluated whether the association between SAM user status and blackouts was moderated by high-intensity drinking (HID). Participants and Methods: College students (N = 1,224; 63.7% female) reported on their past year experiences of blackout, marijuana use, SAM use, and HID (i.e., drinking at least twice the binge threshold). Results: SAM users had more past year blackouts than non-SAM users, but this effect was only significant among SAM users who had engaged in HID in the past year (nonbinge: F_(5,37) = 0.50, p = 0.49; binge: F_(5,138) = 0.23, p = 0.63; HID: F_(5,328) = 4.52, p = 0.03). Conclusions: Effects of SAM user status on the experience of alcohol-related blackouts may be limited to individuals who engage in HID.

Keywords:

• Alcohol use
• blackout
• high intensity drinking
• marijuana use
• simultaneous alcohol and marijuana use

Declaration of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Additional information

Funding

Investigator effort was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) (K23AA026895, PI Miller; R21AA025175, PI Miller; T32AA013526, PI Sher). The National Institutes of Health (NIH) had no role in study design; data collection, analysis, or interpretation; manuscript preparation; or the decision to submit the paper for publication.