Much of the article is pop-psych myth. Italy has always had a high rate of alcohol-related diseases. The concept of "drinking with restraint" and "only while eating" has led to a situation there, and in France as well, for that matter, where most of the populace has been half in the bag all day, not necessarily hammered but seldom sober.
If they are bingeing more now, it is a change in pattern, but not necessarily in daily total intake or harm done.