The regular intake of highly caffeinated energy drinks by college students could make them addicted to alcohol, as found by a new study.

The study's author Amelia M. Arria, Director of the Center on Young Adult Health and Development in the department of family science at the University of Maryland School of Public Health suggests that those college students, who are accustomed to take energy drinks on weekly basis, they are more likely to be dependent on alcohol. This signals that the lovers of energy drinks possess an inability to cease alcohol usage despite of bearing harmful results.

There were involved about 1,100 seniors studying in a large public U. S. university in the research. They were surveyed to come to know about the possible association between routine consumption of energy drinks and tendency to get addicted of alcoholic drinks.

Nearly 10% of the participants responded that they drank energy drinks for more than 52 days and they were big time drinkers. They gulped down more amount of alcohol than low-frequency drinkers. The high-frequency drinkers took alcohol for around 142 days in a year, while this frequency was 103 days in the low-frequency group.

The high-frequency drinkers started getting drunk at a younger age and they were having more than six drinks a day, as compared to the intake of less than five drinks a day by low frequency drinkers.

Arria said, "We do think that when you drink energy drinks you prolong your alcohol consumption and drink past the point of intoxication because you're awake longer, which leads to bad consequences".