Table 1.

Definitions of the alcohol consumption groups

Average Level of Drinking

Moderate: ≥ .5 and ≤ 1 drink/day (women); ≥ .5 and ≤ 2 drinks/day (men).

High: > 1 drink/day (women); > 2 drinks/day (men).

Pattern of Drinking

Regular: < 4 drinks/largest occasion (women); < 5 drinks/largest occasion (men).

Episodic Heavy: ≥ 4 drinks/largest occasion (women); ≥ 5 drinks/largest occasion (men).

Note. Alcohol consumption was indexed during the last month. We excluded non-drinkers. In addition, we excluded very light drinkers (> 0 to < 1/2 drink on average per day) because it was unlikely that they would be episodic heavy drinkers.