The effects of a tobacco intervention on binge drinking among African American light smokers

Tobacco use and binge drinking are commonly associated with each other and research has shown that reducing smoking may influence alcohol use in alcohol-dependent populations. Although African Americans report a lower prevalence of binge drinking than other racial/ethnic groups, they are more likely to report consequences associated with this behavior. The aim of this article was to study the effect of a smoking intervention (counseling) on binge drinking prevalence and the frequency and average daily alcohol consumption in a sample of African American light smokers (those who smoke 10 cigarettes or less per day). Multivariate models were used to assess whether counseling type (health education or motivational interviewing) affected binge drinking prevalence and frequency or average daily alcohol consumption among participants (N = 755). Generalized linear models were run to assess the mediation effect of smoking cessation on the relationship between the counseling intervention and drinking outcomes. Finally, smoking cessation (regardless of counseling type) was assessed to determine the effect on alcohol use outcomes. Overall, counseling type was significantly related to a reduction in past 30-day binge drinking prevalence at week 8 among participants in the health education counseling (P =.045); however, these results diminished within 6 months. Smoking cessation did not appear to mediate the relationship between counseling type and alcohol use outcomes. Regardless of counseling type, individuals who quit smoking within the first 8 weeks of the study reported lower past 30-day binge drinking prevalence at week 8 than those who did not quit during the first 8 weeks (P =.035), but the effect was not sustained at the end of the study (week 26). These results show that tobacco interventions can affect binge drinking, but the effect does not appear to be sustained over time.