School of Social Science
SLSY100: Psychology 100
Energy drinks mixed with alcohol: the interactive effects on risk-taking behavior, alcohol consumption and related negative consequences Abstract
The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between risk-taking propensity; AmED use and the effects these variables had overall alcohol consumption and the experience of related negative consequences.
Participants were 172 university students from the psychology faculty of an Australian university. Data was collected using a self-report on line survey. The survey used a within subjects design and consisted of two parts. Part one asked questions about alcohol consumption when using alcohol alone, energy drink alone (ED) and energy drink mixed with alcohol (AmED). Participants also completed a modified version of the Brief Young Adult Consequence Scale (BYAACQ) to assess associated negative consequences as well as a RT-18 questionnaire to assess risk taking propensity. Part Two assessed personality traits such as depression however data collected was not used to this present study. The hypothesis that mixing alcohol with energy drink does not increase overall alcohol consumption was supported by the current study’s findings. As predicted, AmED use was not found to increase overall alcohol consumption. The findings also supported the prediction that high risk taking propensity increases both overall alcohol consumption as well the likelihood of experiencing associated negative consequences was supported. In Conclusion, these findings, taken together with previous research suggests that AmEd consumption does not increase overall alcohol consumption, risk taking behaviour or
negative alcohol related consequences. Findings also suggest that risk taking propensity is a significant variable in
References: Alford , C., Hamilton-Morris, J., & Verster, C. J. (2012). The effects of energy drink in combination with alcohol on performance and subjective awareness. Psychopharmacology, (222), 519-532. doi: 10.1007/s00-012-2677-1 Berger, L., Fendrich, M Pennay, A., & Lubman, D. (2012). Alcohol and energy drinks: pilot study exploring patterns of consumption, social contexts, benefits and harms. BMC Research Notes, Retrieved from http://biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/5/369 Reissig, C