Heavy drinking is often associated with recent trainees of the United States Air Force and United States Navy. Understanding the patterns of drinking before enlisting and afterwards may help identify those who need intervention or education to prevent alcohol use disorders.
A recent study looked at the alcohol use after forced abstinence in basic training among Air Force and Navy trainees. The study was done by Bray, Brown, Pemberton, Williams, Jones, and Vandermaas-Peeler in 2010.
The study looked at drinking rates of U.S. Navy and Air Force trainees during the month before basic training commenced and after the ban on drinking alcohol was lifted during advanced training.
The researchers used surveys distributed to five training bases. Four U.S. Air Force bases and one U.S. Navy base were surveyed. There was a total of 6,298 participants, with a 65 percent response rate.
The researchers based their analysis on 4,962 young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 years who provided valid responses to questions about drinking before basic training.
The results of the study show that 43.1 percent of respondents participated in heavy episodic drinking during the month before they entered basic training. 15.8 percent experienced infrequent heavy episodic drinking, which was defined as five or more drinks per occasion at least once, or four or more for women.
27.3 percent were defined as frequent heavy episodic drinkers, defined by five or more drinks per occasion once per week during the month.
Pre-basic frequent heavy episodic drinkers average 7.9 drinks per occasion and almost 15 heavy episodic drinking days during the month. However, after basic training, heavy episodic drinking decreased sharply: 12 percent for infrequent heavy episodic drinkers and 9 percent for frequent heavy episodic drinkers.
When the results of the study were compared with U.S. Department of Defense Health Related Behaviors Survey, it is suggested that post-basic frequent heavy episodic drinking rates are likely to increase over time, but that they would not return to pre-basic levels.
The study found that heavy episodic drinkers were more likely than their nondrinking or non-heavy episodic drinking counterparts to initiate or re-initiate frequent heavy episodic drinking. The study also highlighted that re-initiation of heavy episodic drinking was most likely to occur between 1 and 6 weeks after the ban on alcohol use was lifted.
Connections found during the study between pre-basic alcohol choices and those following the lifting of the ban after basic offer insight into heavy episodic drinking by U.S. Navy and Air Force trainees. Pre-screening of alcohol choices before basic training may help the military to identify trainees needing education and intervention.
Comments on this entry are closed.