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Drunkorexia

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Hidden and Lesser-known Disordered Eating Behaviors in Medical and Psychiatric Conditions

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Abstract

Drunkorexia refers to a pattern of compensatory diet-related behaviors (e.g., restricting food intake) when consuming alcohol for the purposes of avoiding weight gain and/or experiencing enhanced alcohol effects. Past research reveals that these compensatory behaviors occur at least occasionally in approximately 50% of college students, with the highest prevalence rates for women and for younger students and with the lowest prevalence rates for African American students. This research also shows that drunkorexia behaviors are associated with greater disordered eating, binge drinking episodes, alcohol-related problems, sensation seeking tendencies, emotion dysregulation, anxiety, and depression. Because of the debilitating impact of such behaviors, there is a need for more research, especially clinical research with severe and extreme cases, that will provide further insight into the characteristics of drunkorexia and determination of whether it should be considered a formal disorder that is distinct from other eating and substance use disorders.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA

    Crystal D. Oberle

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  1. Crystal D. Oberle
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Correspondence to Crystal D. Oberle .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Private Hospital "Salus" of Ferrara, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

    Emilia Manzato

  2. Formerly Sapienza University of Rome, Founding Editor of Eating and Weight Disorders, Campiglia Marittima, Livorno, Italy

    Massimo Cuzzolaro

  3. Experimental Medicine Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Editor-in-Chief of Eating and Weight Disorders, Roma, Roma, Italy

    Lorenzo Maria Donini

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Oberle, C.D. (2022). Drunkorexia. In: Manzato, E., Cuzzolaro, M., Donini, L.M. (eds) Hidden and Lesser-known Disordered Eating Behaviors in Medical and Psychiatric Conditions . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81174-7_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81174-7_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-81173-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-81174-7

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