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Gender differences in relations between alcohol-related compensatory behavior and eating pathology

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Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Concerns about caloric intake associated with alcohol use (e.g., fear of weight gain) are positively associated with compensatory eating behaviors (e.g., caloric restriction, self-induced vomiting), a phenomenon that has been identified across gender. Specific motivations for compensatory behaviors differ; some relate to eating disorder (ED) pathology (e.g., shape and weight concerns), and others to alcohol (e.g., enhancing effects). Research examining motivations for alcohol-related compensatory behaviors in men is limited to date. The current study sought to assess how specific types of alcohol-related compensatory behaviors and their association with ED pathology present differently by gender.

Methods

Undergraduates (N = 530, 48% female) completed the Compensatory Eating Behaviors in Response to Alcohol Consumption Scale (CEBRACS), Eating Disorders Diagnostic Scale (EDDS), and reported height, weight, and frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption. Data were examined using linear regression, and relations between CEBRACS behaviors and eating pathology were compared across gender.

Results

Factors that were positively associated with EDDS scores for both men and women included alcohol-related dietary restraint, and exercise. For women, but not men, alcohol-related bulimic behavior also contributed to elevations in EDDS scores.

Conclusions

Findings indicate that specific types of alcohol-related compensatory eating behaviors (i.e., dietary restraint and exercise) are positively related to ED pathology for both male and female participants. In contrast, bulimic behaviors’ association with ED pathology is gender specific. Understanding gender differences in alcohol-related compensatory behaviors and ED risk may inform gender-specific intervention targets.

Level of evidence

Cross-sectional descriptive study, Level V.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Avenue, Social Sciences 399, Albany, NY, 12222, USA

    Sasha Gorrell, Drew A. Anderson & James F. Boswell

  2. Union College, 807 Union Street, Schenectady, NY, 12308, USA

    D. Catherine Walker

Authors
  1. Sasha Gorrell
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  2. D. Catherine Walker
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  3. Drew A. Anderson
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Correspondence to Sasha Gorrell.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

During one in-lab appointment, participants provided informed consent and completed the self-report questionnaires described.

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This article is part of the topical collection on Food and Addiction.

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Gorrell, S., Walker, D.C., Anderson, D.A. et al. Gender differences in relations between alcohol-related compensatory behavior and eating pathology. Eat Weight Disord 24, 715–721 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-018-0545-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-018-0545-7

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