Understanding binge drinking: introduction to the special issue.

Widespread interest in binge drinking, demonstrated by scientists, public policymakers, and educators, served as the impetus for assembling this special issue. The contents represent state-of-the-science conceptualizations and empirical work on the topic of binge drinking. This issue begins with 2 invited articles and contains a selection of empirical articles that reflect experimental and correlational designs, longitudinal studies of the course and correlates of binge drinking, and controlled-intervention trials. These articles address the construct validity of binge drinking as well as its utility as a high-risk marker in both theory-testing and intervention contexts. This introductory article discusses several advantages and disadvantages of continued use of the term binge drinking and suggests alternatives for use in research and applied contexts.