ArticleAddictive behaviors2015
Normative misperceptions about alcohol use in the general population of drinkers: a cross-sectional survey.
Article in Addictive behaviors, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 74 citations in OpenAlex.
- A randomized controlled trial of a brief online intervention to reduce alcohol misuse and promote treatment initiation among veterans.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2026Trial
- The Moderating Effect of Educational Background on the Efficacy of a Computer-Based Brief Intervention Addressing the Full Spectrum of Alcohol Use: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2022Trial
- Evaluating the effectiveness of a smartphone app to reduce excessive alcohol consumption: protocol for a factorial randomised control trial.BMC public health · 2016Trial
- Exploring othering and perceived harmful drinking contexts among risky drinkers: An arts-based focus group study.British journal of health psychology · 2025Article
- Problem Recognition as A Discrete Concept for Change Processes in Problematic Alcohol Use.Current addiction reports · 2025Review
- Alcohol's impact on fine motor skills: Insights from minimally invasive surgical simulation.Heliyon · 2024Article
- The Differential Role of Perceived Same-Gender and Gender-Neutral Norms in Emerging Adult Risk Behavior.Substance use & misuse · 2024Article
- Should we promote alcohol problems as a continuum? Implications for policy and practice.Drugs (Abingdon, England) · 2024Article
- Framing substance use as "recreational" is neither accurate nor helpful for prevention purposes.Journal of prevention (2022) · 2023Article
- Perceptions of control over different causes of death and the accuracy of risk estimations.Zeitschrift fur Gesundheitswissenschaften = Journal of public health · 2023Article
- Leaving Before Completion of Treatment Among Alcohol-Intoxicated, College-Aged Emergency Department Patients.Cureus · 2023Article
- Trajectories of alcohol misuse among the UK Armed Forces over a 12-year period.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2022Article
- Shyness and susceptibility to social influence: Stronger concordance between norms and drinking among shy individuals.Addictive behaviors · 2021Article
- Frequency of alcohol drinking modifies the association between salt intake and albuminuria: a 1-year observational study.Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension · 2020Observational
- Evaluating the Efficacy of a Mobile App (Drinks:Ration) and Personalized Text and Push Messaging to Reduce Alcohol Consumption in a Veteran Population: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2020Article
- Drinking frequency modifies an association between salt intake and blood pressure: A cohort study.Journal of clinical hypertension (Greenwich, Conn.) · 2020Article
- A Qualitative Evaluation of the Acceptability of a Tailored Smartphone Alcohol Intervention for a Military Population: Information About Drinking for Ex-Serving Personnel (InDEx) App.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2019Article
- The development of Drink Less: an alcohol reduction smartphone app for excessive drinkers.Translational behavioral medicine · 2019Article
- A Smartphone App and Personalized Text Messaging Framework (InDEx) to Monitor and Reduce Alcohol Use in Ex-Serving Personnel: Development and Feasibility Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2018Article
- InDEx: Open Source iOS and Android Software for Self-Reporting and Monitoring of Alcohol Consumption.Journal of open research software · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionUnderestimating one's own alcohol consumption relative to others ('normative misperception') has been documented in some college student and heavy-alcohol using samples, and may contribute to excessive drinking. This study aimed to assess how far this phenomenon extends to alcohol users more generally in four English-speaking countries and if associations with socio-demographic and drinking variables exist.
methodsA cross-sectional online global survey (Global Drugs Survey-2012) was completed by 9820 people aged 18+ from Australia, Canada, the UK and US who had consumed alcohol in the last year. The survey included the AUDIT questionnaire (which assessed alcohol consumption, harmful drinking and alcohol dependence), socio-demographic assessment and a question assessing beliefs about how one's drinking compares with others. Associations were analysed by linear regression models.
resultsUnderestimation of own alcohol use relative to others occurred in 46.9% (95% CI: 45.9%, 47.9%) of respondents. 25.4% of participants at risk of alcohol dependence and 36.6% of harmful alcohol users believed their drinking to be average or less. Underestimation was more likely among those who were: younger (16-24; p<0.003), male (p<0.001), from the UK (versus US; p<0.001), less well educated (p=0.003), white (p=0.035), and unemployed (versus employed; p<0.001).
conclusionsUnderestimating one's own alcohol consumption relative to other drinkers is common in Australia, Canada, the UK and US, with a substantial minority of harmful drinkers believing their consumption to be at or below average. This normative misperception is greater in those who are younger, male, less well educated, unemployed, white, from the UK and high-risk drinkers.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.