K. Vogt, M. Danckaerts
Addressing binge drinking among adolescents - a systematic review Background: The phenomenon of binge drinking (BD) - consuming 5 or more standard alcoholic drinks in a period of 2 hours - and heavy episodic drinking (HED) - consuming at least 60 grams of alcohol on a single occasion - is a pattern of alcohol consumption that is widespread among Flemish youth, with various negative health consequences. Objective: The present study provides an overview of prevention programmes and interventions evaluating their effectiveness on BD/HED in minors. Methods: A systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA-guidelines. A search of Embase, Medline, Web Of Science and Psycinfo was conducted for articles up to February 28, 2025. Only controlled trials were included. Results: We included 84 studies, with 51 classified as universal prevention, 23 as selective prevention, 3 as both and 7 as indicated prevention/early intervention. Most of the interventions were examined only in one or few studies. Both universal and selective prevention proved to have studies which showed no preventive effect on binge drinking and heavy episodic drinking. However, other studies did prove statistically significant beneficial effects. The effect sizes of both the selective and universal prevention programs proved to be comparable. Nonsignificant effect emerged for interventions categorized as indicated prevention or early intervention when compared to standard care. Conclusions: The heterogeneity between studies complicates comparison. Findings advocate in favor of both the universal prevention program ‘Climate Schools’ and the selective prevention program ‘Preventure’. Replication is necessary, as well as further research on the efficacy of effective