Coffee and energy drink use patterns in college freshmen: associations with adverse health behaviors and risk factors

Collaborators, Affiliations

Collaborators

Spit for Science Working Group:
Danielle M Dick, Kimberly Pedersen, Zoe Neale, Nathaniel Thomas, Amy E Adkins, Nathaniel Thomas, Zoe Neale, Kimberly Pedersen, Thomas Bannard, Seung B Cho, Amy E Adkins, Peter Barr, Holly Byers, Erin C Berenz, Erin Caraway, Seung B Cho, James S Clifford, Megan Cooke, Elizabeth Do, Alexis C Edwards, Neeru Goyal, Laura M Hack, Lisa J Halberstadt, Sage Hawn, Sally Kuo, Emily Lasko, Jennifer Lend, Mackenzie Lind, Elizabeth Long, Alexandra Martelli, Jacquelyn L Meyers, Kerry Mitchell, Ashlee Moore, Arden Moscati, Aashir Nasim, Zoe Neale, Jill Opalesky, Cassie Overstreet, A Christian Pais, Kimberly Pedersen, Tarah Raldiris, Jessica Salvatore, Jeanne Savage, Rebecca Smith, David Sosnowski, Jinni Su, Nathaniel Thomas, Chloe Walker, Marcie Walsh, Teresa Willoughby, Madison Woodroof, Jia Yan, Cuie Sun, Brandon Wormley, Brien Riley, Fazil Aliev, Roseann Peterson, Bradley T Webb

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Women's Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, 730 E. Broad Street, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA. dssvikis@vcu.edu.
² Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, 806 W. Franklin St, P.O. Box 842018, Richmond, VA, 23284, USA. dssvikis@vcu.edu.
³ Center for Clinical and Translational Research, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1200 East Clay St, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA.
⁴ Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5510 Nathan Shock Dr, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA.
⁵ Department of Biostatistics, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1100 East Leigh Street, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA.
⁶ Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, 806 W. Franklin St, P.O. Box 842018, Richmond, VA, 23284, USA.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1200 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA.
⁸ Department of Psychiatry, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA.
⁹ Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1200 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA.

PMID: 35346128
PMCID: PMC8962474
DOI: 10.1186/s12889-022-13012-3

Coffee and energy drink use patterns in college freshmen: associations with adverse health behaviors and risk factors

Dace S Svikis et al. BMC Public Health. 2022.

. 2022 Mar 26;22(1):594.

doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-13012-3.

Authors

Collaborators

Spit for Science Working Group:
Danielle M Dick, Kimberly Pedersen, Zoe Neale, Nathaniel Thomas, Amy E Adkins, Nathaniel Thomas, Zoe Neale, Kimberly Pedersen, Thomas Bannard, Seung B Cho, Amy E Adkins, Peter Barr, Holly Byers, Erin C Berenz, Erin Caraway, Seung B Cho, James S Clifford, Megan Cooke, Elizabeth Do, Alexis C Edwards, Neeru Goyal, Laura M Hack, Lisa J Halberstadt, Sage Hawn, Sally Kuo, Emily Lasko, Jennifer Lend, Mackenzie Lind, Elizabeth Long, Alexandra Martelli, Jacquelyn L Meyers, Kerry Mitchell, Ashlee Moore, Arden Moscati, Aashir Nasim, Zoe Neale, Jill Opalesky, Cassie Overstreet, A Christian Pais, Kimberly Pedersen, Tarah Raldiris, Jessica Salvatore, Jeanne Savage, Rebecca Smith, David Sosnowski, Jinni Su, Nathaniel Thomas, Chloe Walker, Marcie Walsh, Teresa Willoughby, Madison Woodroof, Jia Yan, Cuie Sun, Brandon Wormley, Brien Riley, Fazil Aliev, Roseann Peterson, Bradley T Webb

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Women's Health, Virginia Commonwealth University, 730 E. Broad Street, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA. dssvikis@vcu.edu.
² Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, 806 W. Franklin St, P.O. Box 842018, Richmond, VA, 23284, USA. dssvikis@vcu.edu.
³ Center for Clinical and Translational Research, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1200 East Clay St, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA.
⁴ Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5510 Nathan Shock Dr, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA.
⁵ Department of Biostatistics, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1100 East Leigh Street, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA.
⁶ Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, 806 W. Franklin St, P.O. Box 842018, Richmond, VA, 23284, USA.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1200 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA.
⁸ Department of Psychiatry, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA.
⁹ Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1200 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA.

PMID: 35346128
PMCID: PMC8962474
DOI: 10.1186/s12889-022-13012-3

Abstract

Background: Public health concern over college students mixing caffeine-containing energy drinks (EDs) and alcohol has contributed to an array of ED-focused research studies. One review found consistent associations between ED use and heavy/problem drinking as well as other drug use and risky behaviors (Nutr Rev 72:87-97, 2014). The extent to which similar patterns exist for other sources of caffeine is not known. The present study examined associations between coffee and ED consumption and alcohol, tobacco and other drug use; alcohol use problems; and parental substance abuse and mental health problems in a sample of college freshmen.

Methods: Subjects were N = 1986 freshmen at an urban university who completed an on-line survey about demographics; caffeine; alcohol, tobacco and other drug use; and family history. The sample was 61% female and 53% White. Chi-square analyses and multivariable binary or ordinal logistic regression were used to compare substance use, problem alcohol behavior, and familial risk measures across 3 caffeine use groups: ED (with or without Coffee) (ED + Co; N = 350); Coffee but no ED (Co; N = 761); and neither coffee nor ED (NoCE; N = 875) use.

Results: After adjusting for gender and race, the 3 caffeine use groups differed on 8 of 9 symptoms for alcohol dependence. In all cases, the ED + Co group was most likely to endorse the symptom, followed by the Co group and finally the NoCE group (all p < .002). A similar pattern was found for: use 6+ times of 5 other classes of drugs (all p < .05); extent of personal and peer smoking (all p < .001); and paternal problems with alcohol, drugs and anxiety/depression as well as maternal alcohol problems and depression/anxiety (p < .04).

Conclusions: The response pattern was ubiquitous, with ED + Co most likely, Co intermediate, and NoCE least likely to endorse a broad range of substance use, problem alcohol behaviors, and familial risk factors. The finding that the Co group differed from both the ED + Co and NoCE groups on 8 measures and from the NoCE group on one additional measure underscores the importance of looking at coffee in addition to EDs when considering associations between caffeine and other risky behaviors.

Keywords: Alcohol; Caffeine; Coffee; College students; Energy drinks; Family history; Smoking.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

References

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Coffee and energy drink use patterns in college freshmen: associations with adverse health behaviors and risk factors

Collaborators

Affiliations

Coffee and energy drink use patterns in college freshmen: associations with adverse health behaviors and risk factors

Authors

Collaborators

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Conflict of interest statement

References

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