The social context of drinking and its association with days of heavy episodic drinking in the past month among a nationally representative sample of adolescents and young adults in the United States, 2021–23

Among this nationally representative sample of adolescents and young adults under the legal drinking age in the USA who drank alcohol in the past month, we found that drinking alone compared to drinking with others was associated with the highest frequency of HED days in the past month. This association was not observed across lower HED day frequency categories. Tailored interventions targeting individuals in this age range who drink alone may be necessary to help reduce high-frequency HED.