The Association Between Excessive Drinking Patterns and Depression: A Cross‐Sectional Study in College Students in Japan

The relationship between depression and alcohol consumption has not yet been confirmed, and no large-scale studies have examined this association in Asian college students. This study examined the correlation between excessive drinking and depression in Japanese college students. We solicited the participation of undergraduate and graduate students aged 20 years or older who underwent annual health examinations between April 2019 and January 2020 at two universities in Japan. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the frequency of alcohol drinking, the amount of alcohol consumed per day, binge drinking during the past month, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale score, and demographic data. A total of 4535 students were analyzed, specifically 2775 men (61.2%) and 1760 women (38.8%). Of these, 1076 men (66.3%) and 548 women (33.7%) were classified as excessive drinkers. Further, 1474 students (32.5%) had depression, of whom 528 (35.8%) were excessive drinkers. In a logistic regression analysis, depression was found to be inversely associated with heavy drinking (odds ratio 0.59 [0.36-0.98]), even after adjusting for several variables. This study found a negative association between excessive alcohol use and depression among Asian college students. More detailed research should investigate the relationship between alcohol consumption and depression by age group and race.