Current alcohol consumption continues to rise among the midlife adult population (ages 35-60) but there is a dearth of research regarding specific alcohol use behaviors among this population. We investigated prevalence, intensity and frequency of typical drinks, maximum drinks, binge drinking and high-intensity drinking by age sex and race/ethnicity for midlife adults and the prospective relationship between binge drinking at 18 years and midlife behaviours.
Estimates of the past 30-day midlife drinking behaviors include typical drinks, maximum drinks, binge, and high-intensity drinking from 5180 respondents in Monitoring the Future Panel study who were 35–60 in 2022 and had been followed since 1980–2005 as 12th grade students. Chambered path models testing associations between age 18 binge drinking status and midlife drinking outcomes were conducted while taking sociodemographic characteristics into moderation.
It also confirmed that 20-30 percent of midlife adults said they binge drank, defined as having four or more for women and five or more for men within a two-hour period), and that 10 percent reported high-intensity drinking, that is, having 8-10 drinks in a row.
Because the elderly are more vulnerable to the effects of most health damaging factors this study marks a trend that calls for increased targeted public health campaigning. People who told us they binge drank in high school were consuming more alcohol in midlife, across a range of measures, several decades later, Patrick of Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan added.
For example, only 20 percent of those who did not binge in age 18 years reported binge drinking in midlife as compared to 40 percent among those who binged in age 18 years. Alcohol continues to be one of the leading risk factors for illness and death across all age groups of people, and more so is dangerous to adults in midlife according to Patrick and his team.
Muscle loss and metabolism decline as you age can slow the processing of alcohol in your body. Individuals at this age most often suffer from diseases that are aggravated by increased alcohol consumption, including diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis.
Specifically, Patrick said that compared with their male counterparts, women binge drank less but were more susceptible to high-intensity alcohol consumption in midlife if they had done so in high school.
New findings show that women who indulged in binge drinking at age 18 were three folds more likely to engage in high intensity drinking midlife while the same is true for midlife men if they had a history of binge drinking at age 18. We pointed out that alcohol consumption amongst women in midlife has for the past years had an inclined trend, unlike the men folk who have held the same trend in their alcohol consumption.
There was a correlation between age and race/ethnicity and the drinking behaviours. However, the weekly use and the prevalence of binge drinking were inversely related to age, but even those who were 60 years old reported binge drinking in the past month, 20 percent. As for high school binge drinking and maximum drinks the correlation was higher at age 60 than at age 35.
Prior analyses revealed that non white drinkers may have more adverse consequences for consumption despite less overall alcohol use frequency, quantity, and disorder compared with white drinkers. Authors have collected survey data from 5080 adults of 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60 years old.
These participants had been involved in a national longitudinal survey, the Monitoring the Future Panel Study since their twelfth grade. The goal was to find out whether there are permanent relations between binge drinking in adolescence and alcohol use in middle age.
Binge and high-intensity drinking were reported by a meaningful percentage of the US midlife adults. Binge drinking in adolescence was a predictor of subsequent alcohol-related risks. These long-term connections were especially strong among females.
Age 18 binge drinking was a stronger predictor of high-intensity drinking at age 60 than earlier in midlife, underscoring that adolescent binge drinking is a key indicator of risk across the lifespan.
Reference
Megan E. Patrick et al, Links between adolescent binge drinking and midlife alcohol use behaviors by age, sex, and race/ethnicity, Alcohol, Clinical and Experimental Research (2024). 
