Final answer:
The distribution of the data does not make the calculation of confidence intervals meaningless.
Step-by-step explanation:
The assumption that severe binge drinking scores are not normally distributed does not imply that the calculation of a confidence interval is not appropriate. Confidence intervals are robust and can still be used even if the underlying data is not normally distributed. While the confidence interval calculation assumes certain distributional assumptions, deviations from these assumptions do not necessarily render the calculations meaningless. Instead, other methods such as non-parametric methods can be used to calculate confidence intervals when the data does not follow a normal distribution.