The Long-Term Effects of Alcohol Consumption During Periods of Development

As alcohol abuse becomes more and more prevalent in today’s high schools, it is important to know what these adolescents are risking as they binge-drink. A study conducted at the Stritch School of Medicine (Loyola University Chicago) in 2011 showed the long-term effects of binge-pattern alcohol exposure on the HPA axis, which functions in regulating stress. Researchers used juvenile male Wistar rats to test their hypothesis that binge-pattern alcohol exposure would have a long-lasting and detrimental effect on the development of the HPA axis. The rats were treated with either saline alone for eight days or a binge-pattern alcohol treatment. Then, they were allowed to grow into adulthood undisturbed. Once they reached adulthood, the rats were treated a second time with either saline alone, a single dose of alcohol, or another round of the binge-pattern alcohol treatment.

Results showed that the adults who had been exposed to a binge-pattern of alcohol during the juvenile stage had permanent alterations of the HPA axis. Specifically, the HPA axis became more sensitive to the future exposures to alcohol. Furthermore, the ability to adjust to recurring stressors was jeopardized. Essentially, adults who were exposed to binge-drinking during puberty experience more stress when drinking in adulthood and have more difficulty getting used to the stress caused by alcohol exposure. This has been linked to the development of mood disorders, but there haven’t been studies done to investigate that any further.

Puberty is one critical period in development. Another critical period that has shown long-term effects of alcohol exposure is the prenatal period. A study conducted at the University of Pittsburgh in 2012 showed the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure behavioral problems in 22-year-olds. This was a longitudinal study which interviewed mothers during their fourth and seventh month of pregnancy, as well as at delivery. Additionally, the researchers followed the children, seeing them at 8 months, 18 months, and 3, 6, 10, 14, 16, and 22 years. The mothers that had exposed their children to alcohol prenatally across the entire term had children who showed more behavioral problems at age 22. In this case, binge drinking did not predict more problems when compared to general exposure throughout the term. Additionally, no trimester was safe for the mother to be drinking.

Overall, exposure to alcohol at the critical periods in development is detrimental to proper development of the brain. It’s not shocking to find out that a mother drinking during pregnancy will have negative long-term effects on her child. However, people tend to think that the effects are minimal as they grow older. The first study has clearly shown us that this is not the case. The brain is constantly developing, especially at puberty. Unfortunately, this has become the time when many adolescents are starting to drink alcohol and particularly binge-drink with friends. The effects here are not just in the present, potentially ruining an adolescent’s athletic standing or academic record, they are long-term, affecting brain development. This is a far greater cost than people realize.