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Although sexual behavior has been linked to mental health and well-being in adolescence and adulthood, relatively little is known about how sexual behavior is associated with well-being in emerging adulthood. This article uses data from college students (N= 364; Mage= 18.4; range = 16.9–20.8; 57.4% female; 29.1% Hispanic/Latino [HL], 25.0% non-HL European American, 17.3% non-HL Asian American, 17.0% non-HL African American, and 11.5% non-HL multiracial) who reported vaginal intercourse on at least 1 day during six semesters of 14-day data collection (n= 26,609 total days; n= 2,313 vaginal sex days). Multilevel models showed that students reported higher levels of positive affect on days they had vaginal sex compared to days they did not. Students reported higher levels of negative affect if they had sex with a nondating partner or experienced more negative consequences of sex. Findings suggest that sex is associated with better short-term well-being in emerging adulthood, but this association differs by situational factors.

Heavy episodic drinking (HED) or consuming 4+/5+ drinks in 1 occasion for women/men is linked consistently with alcohol‐related harms. Recent research suggests that many individuals drink at levels more than twice this cutoff (8+/10+ drinks), commonly referred to as “high‐intensity drinking.” Prevalence rates of high‐intensity drinking and its dynamic association with alcohol use disorder (AUD) across all ages, however, remain unknown. The current study used data from a nationally representative sample to document age‐varying prevalence rates of HED‐only drinking and high‐intensity drinking, prevalence rates of AUD for HED‐only drinkers and high‐intensity drinkers, and relative odds of experiencing an AUD for high‐intensity drinkers as compared to HED‐only drinkers. Data were from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions‐III. The final analytic sample consisted of past‐year drinkers aged 18 to 64 years (n =22,776). Time‐varying effect modeling revealed that high‐intensity drinking and HED‐only drinking were equally prevalent during young adulthood and prevalence rates of both types of drinking generally became less common with increasing age. At all ages, high‐intensity drinkers were at 3 or more times greater odds of meeting criteria for an AUD than HED‐only drinkers. The association between high‐intensity relative to HED‐only drinking was strongest earlier in adulthood with approximately 83% of 18‐year‐old high‐intensity drinkers having AUDrelative to 42% of HED‐only drinkers. Future research aiming to identify drinkers most at risk of harms and in need of treatment may benefit from assessing the extent to which an individual exceeds the 8+/10+ threshold of drinking. High‐intensity drinkers (8+/10+ drinks in one occasion for women/men) and heavy episodic‐only drinkers (HED; 4+/5+ drinks) were equally prevalent during young adulthood; both were less common with increasing age. At all ages, high‐intensity drinkers were at 3+ greater odds of an alcohol use disorder than HED‐only drinkers, with the strongest associations earlier in adulthood. Future research aiming to identify drinkers most at‐risk for harms may benefit from assessing the extent to which an individual exceeds the 8+/10+ threshold of drinking.