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. 2021 May 17;18(10):5315.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18105315.

Risk-Taking Behavior and the Consumption of Alcohol Mixed with Energy Drink among Australian, Dutch and UK Students

Sean J Johnson  1   2 , Sarah Benson  3 , Andrew Scholey  3 , Chris Alford  1 , Joris C Verster  3   4
Affiliations

Risk-Taking Behavior and the Consumption of Alcohol Mixed with Energy Drink among Australian, Dutch and UK Students

Sean J Johnson et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The relationship between risk-taking behavior, alcohol consumption and negative alcohol-related consequences is well known. The current analyses were conducted to investigate whether alcohol mixed with energy drink (AMED) is related to risk-taking behavior and if there is a relationship between the amount of energy drink mixed with alcohol consumed, risk-taking behavior and negative alcohol-related consequences. Data from N = 1276 AMED consuming students from the Netherlands, UK and Australia who completed the same survey were evaluated. The analysis revealed that, compared to AMED occasions, on alcohol only (AO) occasions significantly more alcohol was consumed and significantly more negative alcohol-related consequences were reported. On both AO and AMED occasions, there was a strong and positive relationship between amount of alcohol consumed, level of risk-taking behavior and number of reported negative alcohol-related consequences. In contrast, the level of risk-taking behavior was not clearly related to energy drink consumption. Across risk-taking levels, differences in the amount of energy drink consumed on AMED occasions did not exceed one 250 mL serving of energy drink. When correcting for the amount of alcohol consumed, there were no statistically significant differences in the number of energy drinks consumed on AMED occasions between the risk-taking groups. In conclusion, alcohol consumption is clearly related to risk-taking behavior and experiencing negative alcohol-related consequences. In contrast, energy drink intake was not related to level of risk-taking behavior and only weakly related to the number of experienced negative alcohol-related consequences.

Keywords: alcohol; alcohol consumption; alcohol-related consequences; energy drink; risk-taking; students; survey.

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Conflict of interest statement

Red Bull GmbH had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results. Over the past 36 months, A.S. has held research grants from Abbott Nutrition, Arla Foods, Bayer, BioRevive, DuPont, Fonterra, Kemin Foods, Nestlé, Nutricia-Danone, and Verdure Sciences. He has acted as a consultant/expert advisor to Bayer, Coca-Cola, Danone, Naturex, Nestlé, Pfizer, Sanofi, Sen-Jam Pharmaceutical, and has received travel/hospitality/speaker fees from Bayer, Pfizer, Sanofi, and Verdure Sciences. C.A. has undertaken sponsored research, or provided consultancy, for a number of companies and organizations including Airbus Group Industries, Astra, British Aerospace / BAE Systems, UK Civil Aviation Authority, Duphar, Farm Italia, Carlo Erba, Ford Motor Company, ICI, Innovate UK, Janssen, LERS Synthélabo, Lilly, Lorex/Searle, UK Ministry of Defence, More Labs, Quest International, Red Bull GmbH, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Sanofi Aventis, Vital Beverages. Over the past 3 years, J.C.V. has received grants/research support from Janssen Research and Development, Danone, and Sequential Medicine, and has acted as a consultant/advisor for More Labs, Red Bull GmbH, Sen-Jam Pharmaceutical, Toast!, Tomo, and ZBiotics. S.B. has received funding from Red Bull GmbH, Kemin Foods, Sanofi Aventis, Phoenix Pharmaceutical, BioRevive, Australian Government Innovations Scheme and GlaxoSmithKline. S.J.J. has undertaken sponsored research for Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Merck, Gilead, Novartis, Roche, Red Bull GmbH, the Department for Transport, and Road Safety Trust.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The relationship between risk-taking and alcohol and energy drink consumption. Shown are the mean number of drinks consumed for each RT-18 risk-taking score for usual drinking occasions (A) and past month heaviest drinking occasion (B). Abbreviations: AO = alcohol only; AMED = alcohol mixed with energy drink; RT-18 = risk-taking questionnaire, 18 items.
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