The effects of energy drink in combination with alcohol on performance and subjective awareness

Alford, Chris; Hamilton-Morris, Jennifer; Verster, Joris C. · 2012 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1007/s00213-012-2677-1

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Summary

This study investigated whether combining an energy drink with alcohol masks the subjective awareness of intoxication or alters objective performance, addressing concerns that such mixtures might lead to risky behavior by reducing perceived impairment. The research employed a placebo-controlled, double-blind, balanced-order design involving 20 healthy volunteers (mean age 24.5 years). Participants were divided into two groups: one consuming an energy drink containing 80 mg of caffeine, and the other consuming a placebo. Both groups received two ascending doses of alcohol (vodka), targeting breath alcohol concentrations of approximately 0.046% and 0.087%, as well as placebo alcohol conditions. Assessments included breath alcohol measurements, objective performance tests (choice reaction time, word memory, and Stroop cognitive interference task), and subjective mood scales using visual analogue scales. The results demonstrated that alcohol significantly impaired objective performance compared to the no-alcohol condition. Specifically, alcohol caused significant slowing in recognition reaction time and markedly reduced both immediate and delayed word memory recall in a dose-dependent manner. However, the addition of the energy drink did not significantly alter breath alcohol concentrations or subjective measures of intoxication. Participants reported significant dose-related subjective impairment after alcohol consumption, and there were no significant differences in subjective awareness between the energy drink and placebo groups when combined with alcohol. This indicates that the energy drink did not mask the subjective effects of alcohol at either dose. Interestingly, the energy drink combination produced specific improvements in certain cognitive tasks. Stroop task performance, including both completion time and error rates, was significantly improved when the energy drink was combined with alcohol compared to alcohol combined with the placebo. While choice reaction time showed a trend toward faster responses with the energy drink, this did not reach statistical significance for the main effects. Critical flicker fusion thresholds showed no significant main effects, though lower thresholds were recorded in alcohol conditions, consistent with sedative effects. The study concludes that subjective effects accurately reflected awareness of alcohol intoxication and sensitivity to increasing alcohol doses. There is no evidence that the energy drink masked the subjective effects of alcohol, contradicting claims that such mixtures lead to underestimation of impairment. While the energy drink improved performance on the Stroop task, it did not counteract the broader impairments in memory and reaction time caused by alcohol. These findings suggest that while caffeine may enhance specific aspects of cognitive processing, it does not restore overall functional capacity or subjective clarity in the presence of alcohol, implying that the perceived safety of mixing these substances may be overstated regarding subjective awareness, though objective impairment remains significant.

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