Background

Alcohol-induced blackout is associated concurrently and prospectively with alcohol-related harm, including emergency room visits and sexual coercion. Although sleep has not been linked empirically to blackout, symptoms of insomnia have also been linked to memory impairment, in which case insomnia symptoms may compound alcohol’s negative effects on memory. This study tested insomnia symptoms as a moderator of the association between heavy drinking and alcohol-induced blackout.

Methods

Heavy-drinking young adults in college (N = 461, 69% female) completed assessments online from remote locations. Hierarchical linear regression was used to test a moderation model predicting blackout frequency. Logistic regression was used to test post hoc hypotheses.

Results

In contrast to our main hypothesis, heavy drinking was more weakly (not more strongly) associated with blackout in the context of more severe insomnia. Post hoc analyses tested insomnia symptoms as a unique moderator of the association between heavy drinking and likelihood of acute physiological consequences of alcohol use (blackout, passing out, nausea/throwing up, and hangover). Insomnia severity at least marginally moderated the association between heavy drinking and 4 out of 5 physiological consequences of alcohol use, and only moderated the association between drinking and 1 of 19 remaining consequences.

Conclusions

Symptoms of insomnia are associated with alcohol-related harm, but may buffer associations between drinking and acute physiological consequences of alcohol. Additional research is needed to determine if alcohol heightens sensitivity to the acute physiological effects of alcohol, in which case less alcohol may be required for young adults with insomnia to experience these effects.

中文翻译：

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失眠作为饮酒和昏迷的调节剂：在急性生理后果中的潜在作用

背景

酒精引起的昏迷与酒精相关的伤害同时和潜在相关，包括急诊室就诊和性胁迫。尽管从经验上来看，睡眠与昏厥没有关联，但失眠症状也与记忆障碍有关，在这种情况下，失眠症状可能会加剧酒精对记忆的负面影响。这项研究测试了失眠症状作为酗酒和酒精引起的昏厥之间关联的调节因素。

方法

大学里酗酒的年轻人（N  = 461，其中 69% 是女性）从偏远地区完成了在线评估。使用分层线性回归来测试预测停电频率的调节模型。逻辑回归用于检验事后假设。

结果

与我们的主要假设相反，在失眠更严重的情况下，大量饮酒与昏厥的相关性更弱（而不是更强）。事后分析测试了失眠症状作为酗酒与饮酒引起的急性生理后果（昏厥、昏倒、恶心/呕吐和宿醉）之间关联的独特调节因素。失眠严重程度至少略微调节了酗酒与饮酒造成的 5 种生理后果中的 4 种之间的关联，并且仅调节了饮酒与其余 19 种生理后果中的 1 种之间的关联。

结论

失眠症状与酒精相关的危害有关，但可能会缓冲饮酒与酒精的急性生理后果之间的关联。需要进行更多的研究来确定酒精是否会增加对酒精急性生理效应的敏感性，在这种情况下，失眠的年轻人可能需要更少的酒精来经历这些效应。