Quarterly follow-ups revealed that 4 trajectory patterns best described the binge drinking patterns among HD and 2 patterns best described the LD (Table 2). Figure 4 depicts the 2 trajectory groups for LD: non-binge (81.4%) and infrequent binge (18.6%) and, consistent with other studies,46,84–87 the 4 trajectory groups for HD: exacerbating binge (6.7%), high-frequency binge (25.0%), moderate-frequency binge (59.6%), and gradual maturing binge (8.7%). The distinction of these trajectory groups was supported by other alcohol-related outcomes during follow-up, including typical and maximal drinking quantity, alcohol-related consequences, and DSM-IV diagnoses of alcohol abuse and dependence (Table 3).
