Just one drink could compromise sense of control

Drinking only one pint of beer could be enough to compromise a person’s sense of control, according to a new study published in the journal Addiction Biology.

Researchers from the UK’s University of Sussex evaluated the impact of low doses of alcohol that occur during drinking in social situations, which typically do not cause large behavioural changes. It is the first study of the effect of alcohol on a person’s ‘sense of agency,’ which means that an individual is aware of the consequences of taking a specific action. Previous studies had focused on the effects of excess alcohol consumption that resulted in obviously drunken behaviour.

During the study, participants drank cocktails containing an alcohol dose in proportion to their body mass index (BMI) to produce a blood alcohol level that did not exceed the legal limits for operating a motor vehicle in England and Wales. The amount of alcohol consumed by the participants was the equivalent of one or two pints of beer, depending on their BMI. The researchers found that this relatively small amount of alcohol consumption could exaggerate a person’s sense of agency, making them believe that they were more aware of the consequences of their actions than they were. It could lead to feeling overconfident in their ability to drive and result in inappropriate driving behaviour, which could be dangerous.

Dr Silvana De Pirro, the study’s lead author, said the study presented a strong case that an individual’s sense of agency could be significantly compromised by drinking as little as one pint of beer. She added that this conclusion ‘begs the question’ of whether the current legal blood alcohol limits for drivers are safe.