The relationship between drinking games and intentions to continue drinking, intentions to drive after drinking, and adverse consequences: Results of a field study

BACKGROUND: Drinking games have become a nearly universal aspect of excessive drinking on university campuses with 50-62% of college students reporting playing drinking games in the past month. Participation in drinking games has been correlated with numerous negative consequences and increased consumption of alcohol. OBJECTIVES: The present study addresses the influence of drinking games on three drinking-related outcomes: problems experienced the night of the drinking event, the intent to keep drinking, and the intent to drive after drinking. METHODS: The data collected for the present study were part of a study testing environmental influences of drinking behaviors of young adults. A total of 226 randomly selected parties (representing 1725 partygoers) were selected for study inclusion. Three multilevel logistic regression models tested the relationship between drinking games and the three drinking-related outcomes. RESULTS: Participants who reported playing drinking games were 1.58 times more likely to report continued drinking intentions than participants who did not play drinking games. If drinking games were observed at a party, participants were 2.38 times more likely to plan to drive while intoxicated. Additionally, participants who reported playing drinking games were 1.59 times more likely to report experiencing a drinking-related problem than participants who did not play drinking games. CONCLUSION: Drinking games have consequences beyond increasing the level of intoxication; they contribute to problematic behavior at individual and environmental levels. Preventing drinking games is warranted.