Most alcohol-related problems in the U.S. are caused by excessive drinking, not by alcoholism, according to a new study.

Binge drinking and other forms of problem drinking are far more common than alcoholism, researchers say. A survey of 4,761 adults in New Mexico, for example, found that while just 1.8 percent met the clinical criteria for alcohol dependence, 16.5 percent drank to excess.

"In the period following prohibition, most researchers, policymakers, and the general public tended to define excessive drinking in terms of alcohol dependence or alcoholism," said researcher Jim Roeber, an alcohol epidemiologist with the New Mexico Department of Health. "This was likely related to cultural norms that sanctioned all but the most obviously problematic drinking such as alcoholism."

"The reality is that drinking to the point of intoxication or drinking above national guidelines with respect to average consumption also carries significant risks, and is unfortunately quite common," added Tim Naimi of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. "Although there are many effective policy and clinical interventions to address excessive drinking, many of them have not been implemented or are underutilized."

Roeber and colleagues drew their conclusions from survey data collected via the 2002 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

"The downside of the assumption that alcohol dependence is the predominant form of excessive drinking is that prevention resources have tended to be directed toward treatment of alcohol dependence, rather than prevention of more prevalent forms that are responsible for a large proportion of alcohol-related problems," said Roeber.

The research was published in the February 2007 issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.