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Author ORCID Identifier

https:/orcid.org/0000-0002-4857-8843

Date Available

5-11-2026

Year of Publication

2026

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College

Arts and Sciences

Department/School/Program

Psychology

Faculty

Jessica Weafer

Faculty

Michael Bardo

Abstract

Binge drinking occurs at an alarmingly high rate, despite its negative consequences on behavior, health, and cognition. One acute cognitive consequence of binge drinking is the impairment of inhibitory control, or the ability to stop oneself from engaging in maladaptive or inappropriate behaviors. Specifically, during a binge episode, individuals display impaired inhibitory control while completing Go/NoGo or Stop Signal Tasks (SST). This impairment has been shown to be maintained for up to five hours post-drinking, even as breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) approaches zero. Evidence also suggests that binge drinking results in next-day deficits in attention, memory, and psychomotor speed. However, no study to date has assessed the next-day effects of binge drinking on inhibitory control in a laboratory setting and only one has assessed these effects in a naturalistic setting. The objective of this dissertation project was to determine the influence of binge drinking on next-day inhibitory control through two specific aims: 1) to determine the next-day effects of binge drinking on inhibitory control in a real-world setting, and 2) to determine the next-day effects of binge drinking on inhibitory control in a laboratory setting. It was hypothesized that, for both aims, a prior evening binge episode will result in next-day impairments in inhibitory control relative to mornings in which no alcohol was consumed the evening prior.

For Aim 1, frequent binge drinkers (n = 18), wore wrist devices to track their sleep and alcohol consumption, filled out daily measures of sleep and alcohol use, and completed the SST from home every morning for 30 days. Linear mixed models with within-subject factors found that morning SST performance did not differ between prior night binge episodes and prior nights with no alcohol consumption (p=0.795). Exploratory analyses found that greater hangover severity was associated with poorer inhibitory control in the morning (p=0.041), but no significant effects were found for any other drinking or sleep-related variables. However, differences in SST performance were found between Android and iPhone users, along with differential effects of most alcohol outcomes (except hangover severity) on next-day inhibitory control.

For Aim 2, frequent binge drinkers (n=12, including 11 of the same participants from Aim 1) completed up to four laboratory sessions in which they completed the SST to assess inhibitory control during a 90-minute intravenous infusion of either saline or a binge-equivalent dose of alcohol (peak BrAC of 100mg%) in a counterbalanced manner. Then, participants spent the night in the laboratory under strict observation and completed the SST again the following morning (9 hours post-infusion) when BrAC is at or near zero. Linear mixed models with within-subject factors found that inhibitory control was impaired to a greater degree during the alcohol infusion than during the saline infusion (p=0.010) but no differences were found the following morning (p=0.183) due to improvements in inhibitory control from night to morning during alcohol sessions only.

Results from both aims suggest that, among binge drinkers, alcohol use itself may not result in next-day impacts on inhibitory control, but that hangover severity may make inhibitory control worse. However, results should be cautiously interpreted due to a smaller than expected sample size for both aims. Further research is needed to better understand the exact time course of acute alcohol impairment on inhibitory control and potential implications of poor inhibitory control during a hangover state.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2026.277

Archival?

Archival

Funding Information

This study was supported by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism grants R01AA030308 from 2024 to 2026 and F31AA032200 from 2025 to 2026

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