Keyes was born on April 4, 1980 to parents Margaret and Jeffrey Keyes in Edina, Minnesota, US. Her father is a partner in Briggs & Morgan, and her mother is a research psychologist in Minneapolis.
The result of the study found that people born after World War II were more likely to binge drink and develop alcohol use disorders. She also reviewed 31 international studies of birth-cohort and gender differences in alcohol consumption and mortality to conclude that "those born between 1978 and 1983 are the weekend warriors, drinking to black out. In that age group, there is a reduction in male drinking, and a sharp increase for women."