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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 May 1.
Published in final edited form as: Health Place. 2013 Jan 17;21:10–19. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2013.01.002

Table 1.

Alcohol use categories.

Category Description
1. Lifetime Abstainers or Ex-Drinkers Lifetime Abstainers were respondents who reported never drinking alcohol during adolescence, never drinking alcohol as an adult, and not drinking in the past 12 months. Ex-Drinkers were respondents who at Wave I and/or Wave III indicated they drank alcohol but had not drunk any alcohol in the past 12 months.
2. Light Drinkers Reported drinking in the past 12 months but having only 1 or 2 drinks at a time and not having been drunk in the past year nor engaging in heavy episodic drinking in the past two weeks.
3. Moderate Drinkers Reported drinking in the past 12 months (typically drinking 3 or more drinks at a time), but not having been drunk in the past year nor engaging in heavy episodic drinking in the past two weeks.
4. Infrequent Heavy Drinkers Reported drinking infrequently (3 to 12 times) over the past 12 months but reported being drunk in the past year and/or heavy episodic drinking in the past two weeks.
5. Occasional Heavy Drinkers Reported drinking more frequently (2 or 3 days a month up to 1 to 2 days a week) over the past 12 months and having been drunk in the past year and/or heavy episodic drinking in the past two weeks.
6. Frequent Heavy Drinkers Reported drinking frequently (3–7 days a week on average) over the past 12 months and having been drunk in the past year and/or heavy episodic drinking in the past two weeks.