Somatic and Psychological Health Implications of Heavy Caffeine Use

Summary Conflicting results have been reported as to whether habitual caffeine use is associated with symptoms of poorer health. The aim of the present study was to further examine the association between caffeine use and somatic and psychological symptomatology while controlling for potentially confounding influences such as concurrent substance use. Information was obtained on the somatic and psychological health, substance use, and biographic background of 96 individuals divided into three equal‐sized groups matched on age and sex. One group consisted of subjects who were chosen specifically because of their habitually high caffeine intake. The other two groups consisted of comparison subjects of psychiatric patients and university students who represented widely varying levels of somatic and psychological health. The results indicated that at high intake levels caffeine may have detrimental effects on somatic and psychological health.