Binge drinking in later life: comparing young-old and old-old social drinkers

Although widespread binge drinking has been documented in younger groups, few studies have examined this behavior among older individuals. We assessed differences in bingeing between young-old (n = 189) and old-old (n = 137) social drinkers. Of those who reported drinking, no significant age o rgender differences were uncovered in alcohol consumption (M = 6.6, SD = 9.4) or degree of alcohol-related problems (M = 12.2, SD = 3.1). Logistic regression analysis showed that old-old adults were 15.7 times less likely to binge drink than the young-old; older women overall were 19.7 times less likely to binge relative to older men. Also, correlations were more diverse among old-old adults. The need for better understanding of bingeing among elders is discussed.