Parental Socioeconomic Status and Binge Drinking in Adolescents: A Systematic Review Ka Ho Robin Kwok, MSc, Sze Ngar Vanessa Yuan, MSc Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London, London, United Kingdom Background and Objectives: Binge drinking is a phenomenon of excessive alcohol use seen in many countries. The objectives of this systematic review are a) to investigate the effect of parental socioeconomic status on binge drinking in adolescents, b) to compare how binge drinking and parental socioeconomic status was measured across studies, and c) to compare the differences between developed and developing countries. Method: We searched PsycINFO and Ovid Medline databases for articles up to January 2016. Parental socioeconomic status is defined as household income, parental educational level, and parental occupational status. Binge drinking is defined as at least 4/5 alcohol drinks on a single occasion. Results: Four hundred and fourteen articles were granted from the databases search with an additional 28 articles were hand-searched through bibliographies. After abstracts and full-text were reviewed, a total of 20 studies have met inclusion criteria for this systematic review. In developed countries, included studies were done in the United States, United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, France, Netherlands, Hong Kong, and Canada. In developing countries, included studies were done in China and Brazil. Conclusions: The majority of studies find no relationship between parental socioeconomic status and binge drinking in adolescents. However, studies that were done in developing countries yielded a weak positive association when no such association was found in developed countries. The variation on measuring binge drinking and parental socioeconomic status is discussed. Scientific Significance: These findings may inform healthcare systems in prevention and intervention for binge drinking among adolescents (Am J Addict 2016;XX:1–10) INTRODUCTION Binge drinking is a phenomenon seen in many countries. During 2001–2005 in the United States, binge drinking was responsible for more than half of the estimated 80,000 average annual deaths and $170.7 billion in economic costs from excessive alcohol consumption. 1,2 Binge drinking (BD), also known as heavy episodic drinking (HED), is commonly defined as consuming more than 4/5 drinks or more at a given occasion. 3 A standardized drink is equivalent to a 12-ounce bottle of beer, 5-ounce glass of wine, or a 1.5 oz shot of liquor. 4 The prevalence of BD has steadily increased over the years. Recent epidemiological studies have revealed the BD prevalence of adults was 23.5% in China and 18.4% in the United States. 1,5 For adolescents, episode of BD is varied across different countries, ranging from 10.3% in Korea to 47% in the United Kingdom. 6,7 Between 2005 and 2011 in a nationally representative sample of high school seniors in the United States, 20.2% of the sample reported consuming five or more alcohol drinks, 10.5% reported consuming 10 or more drinks, and 5.6% reported consuming 15 or more drinks in a row at least once in the last 2 weeks. 8 Parents have an influential impact in the development of adolescents in modern society. Family socioeconomic status has been well-examined with adolescents’ psychopathology and other types of substance use. 9–13 Parental socioeconomic status (SES) is defined as the educational level, income, or occupation in adults. 14 Children from low SES families have an increased risk in having conduct problems, while youths with conduct problem are more likely to consume more alcohol. 15 Smoking was found to be more prevalent among individuals from lower SES households but affluent young adults was associated with greater risk for alcohol use and marijuana use. 16 No clear pattern of associations was found in the previous literatures between SES and alcohol-related concerns. Out of 28 included studies, mixed results have been reported on the relationship between SES and alcohol consumption in adolescents, with the majority reported no significant association. 17 Another systematic review examined SES in childhood and later alcohol use found little robust evidence. 18 Another meta-analysis found increased alcohol risk behavior in adolescents with lower SES than those with higher SES. 19 Received March 7, 2016; revised August 10, 2016; accepted October 2, 2016. Address correspondence to Kwok, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London, PO 85, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom. E-mail: kahrobin@gmail.com The American Journal on Addictions, XX: 1–10, 2016 Copyright © 2016 American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry ISSN: 1055-0496 print / 1521-0391 online DOI: 10.1111/ajad.12461 1