They call it "pre-drinking," "pre-partying" or "pre-funking," and it usually involves chugging cheap alcoholic drinks before heading out to a bar, club or sporting event.
While addiction experts estimate that 65 per cent to 75 per cent of college-age youths engage in such boozy behaviour, a Swiss study concludes that such "pre-loaded" evenings are far more likely to end in blackouts, unprotected sex, unplanned drug use or injury.
"Pre-drinking is a pernicious drinking pattern," said co-author Florian Labhart, a researcher at Addiction Info Switzerland, in Lausanne. "Excessive consumption and adverse consequences are not simply related to the type of people who pre-drink, but rather to the practice of pre-drinking itself."
The study, to be published in an upcoming issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, examined the drinking habits of more than 250 Swiss students. For five weeks, the test subjects were surveyed via Internet and cellphone text messages. Each Thursday, Friday and Saturday night, the students were questioned hourly about how many drinks they had just consumed.
Researchers found that when students drank prior to going to a bar or club, they drank more than they would otherwise. On average, pre-drinking students consumed seven drinks, and students who drank only at a bar or event consumed just over four drinks.
This increased drinking was associated with a greater likelihood of blackouts, hangovers, absences from work or school or alcohol poisoning. Pre-drinkers were also found to engage more often in unintended drug use, unsafe sex, drunken driving or violent behaviour.
The study found that while students who drank only at a bar or club stood an 18 per cent chance of experiencing negative consequences, students who drank beforehand stood a 24 per cent chance of seeing their evening end in mishap.
Study authors cited several motivations for pre-drinking, which practitioners also called "pre-gaming," "pre-loading" or "frontloading: " saving money, getting in the mood for partying, becoming intoxicated and socializing with friends or facilitating contacts with potential sexual partners.
