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Alcohol use and the fear of weight gain in college: Reconciling two social norms

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Abstract

Recent research reports a, link between diet-related behavior and alcohol abuse among women, but fails to explain this relationship. In the present study, a grounded theory approach is used to explore the link between diet-related behavior, body image, and alcohol use among a sample of college students. In the feminist tradition of “giving voice,” 78 college students participated in semi-structured, face-to-face interview to generate insight into the sociocultural practice of diet behavior and its association with alcohol use. Four specific categories of diet-related behaviors in the context of alcohol use emerged. Students reported altering their eating and drinking patterns, self-induced purging, or exercising to stave off unwanted weight gain believed to be caused by alcohol use. These categories are useful for understanding the alcohol-use and diet-related behavior associations reported in previous studies Results suggest drinking behavior among some college students is perhaps mutually influenced by socio-cultural pressures to conform both to dody-image norms and to drinking, norms. Interventions to reduce college alcohol use and the social consequences that accompany such behavior may need to take into account these social and psychological factors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Akron, Akron, USA

    Robert L. Peralta (an assistant professor)

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  1. Robert L. Peralta
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His research focuses on how social structural and cultural features of communities affect individual behavior. In his research he addresses the roles of race, gender, and sexuality in alcohol use and alcohol-related interpersonal violence.

I would like to thank professors Cynthia Robbins, Margaret Andersen, and Ronet Bachman for their support and guidance on all aspects of this research. I am indebted to the insight and suggestions made on, drafts of this paper from J. M. Cruz, Ph. D., and P. Guerino. To Tricia Wachtendorf and Erin Gladding, thank you for all your assistance in the collection and analysis of data. For the careful and critical though put into an earlier draft of this paper, I would like to acknowledge the anonymous reviewers at Gender Issues. And finally, I am grateful to the students who shared with me their views and experiences with alcohol use.

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Peralta, R.L. Alcohol use and the fear of weight gain in college: Reconciling two social norms. Gend. Issues 20, 23–42 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-002-0021-5

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