Binge Drinking Fuels Male Impulsive Behavior

A new study has found that adolescents into binge drinking are more likely to engage in risk-taking behavior.
It is already known that impulsive behavior is caused by acute ingestion of alcohol, but new finding suggests that it may increase the level over a time.The researchers believe that adolescence is also a time when many individuals begin to drink, which can have serious effects on brain development. 

New research investigating impulsive behavior in male adolescents has indicated that there is a significant trend regarding the amount of alcohol an individual ingests, and changes in levels of impulsive behavior that follow. 
"Heavy alcohol use in adolescence may lead to alterations in brain structure and function that reduce behavioral (impulse) control, which could, in turn, promote further heavy drinking. We chose boys because they tend to drink heavier than girls during adolescence, and adolescent boys generally exhibit less impulse control than adolescent girls," said the first author of the study, Helene R. White, professor of sociology at the Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University. 
The study involved annually following more than 500 first grade boys from the City of Pittsburgh public schools until age 20, with another follow up four to five years later. The researchers used questionnaires and interviews to obtain data regarding the subject's drinking and impulsive behavior, so they could determine if there was a correlation between the two.