Binge drinking, defined worldwide as the consumption of 4 or more drinks (units) per drinking occasion for girls, and 5 or more drinks (units) per drinking occasion for boys (Jacobus, Squeglia, Bava, & Tapert, 2013), has attracted increasing attention from the media and from neuroscientists over recent years due to its direct association with rates of behavioural risk (including increased incidence of accidents and injuries) and potential neural impact (interference with on-going neural development; Spear, 2014). Concretely, numerous 15–18 year olds in the UK (52%; Armitage, 2013; Healey, Rahman, Faizal, & Kinderman, 2014) and US (between 20 and 32%; Wechsler, Davenport, Dowdall, Moeykens, & Castillo, 1994) report binge drinking during the past month. Recent studies indicate even more alarming statistics, with 16% of US adolescents reportedly engaging in ‘extreme’ binge drinking (defined as more than 10 drinks (units) per drinking event) (Eaton et al., 2012; Patrick et al., 2013).
