The Duke University Medical Center study added that female students are more at risk for engaging in risky behaviors during blackouts than their male peers.

"This study shows that the common assumption that blackouts only happen to alcoholics is wrong," said Aaron White, Ph.D., assistant research professor of psychiatry at Duke and lead author of the study. "It is very possible for social drinkers, such as the students we surveyed, to experience blackouts if they overdo their consumption of alcohol. The study suggests that college students are much more familiar with blackouts than many people, including us, assumed."

The survey of 772 undergraduate students at Duke University during the spring 2001 semester gathered information on demographics, drinking habits, family history of problems with alcohol, frequency of blackouts, and the types of events the students later learned they had participated in during a blackout episode.

The researchers found that during alcohol-related blackouts, students often participated in risky activities such as unprotected sexual intercourse, vandalizing property, or driving a car.

"We want to provide students with information that will help them make good, informed decisions regarding their use of alcohol," said White. "It is important for students to know what blackouts are and what factors seem to increase the risk of blackout occurrence so that they can be avoided."

The study's findings are published in the February 2003 issue of the Journal of American College Health.

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