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Updated: May 8, 2026

The Motivation for Alcohol Reward: Predictors of Progressive-Ratio Intravenous Alcohol Self-Administration in Humans
Published on: April 28, 2022
Is the pregame to blame? Event-level associations between pregaming and alcohol-related consequences
Jennifer E Merrill1, Leah N Vermont, Rachel L Bachrach
1Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA. Jennifer_Merrill@brown.edu
Objective:
Pregaming (drinking before a social occasion) predicts alcohol consequences between persons; people who pregame report greater consequences than those who do not. The present study examined within-person associations between pregaming and daily consequences.
Method:
Participants were college students (N = 44; 50% female) reporting past-month pregaming. Daily drinks consumed (during pregaming and across the entire drinking episode) and alcohol consequences were assessed with a 30-day Timeline Followback interview.
Results:
Within individuals, engaging in pregaming predicted consequences experienced on a given day above and beyond the number of drinks consumed across the drinking episode and typical drinking level. Furthermore, there was a trend toward pregaming placing women at more risk for consequences than men.
Conclusions:
Findings support a context-specific risk for consequences that is conferred by pregaming and that is independent of how much drinking occurs across the drinking episode. Results highlight pregaming as a target for future interventions.
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