Disordered Eating and Binge Drinking among College Students

Abstract

The overarching goal of this study is to enhance the current understanding of how college students with disordered eating experience alcohol. The study focuses on negative consequences, drinking behaviors, alcohol expectancies, and outcomes to a high-risk drinking prevention program. Taking a novel perspective to examine these problem behaviors, the current study uses a national sample of college students (N=8,095) who participated in an internet-based alcohol prevention program (AlcoholEdu for College, www.outsidetheclassoom.com). Multiple multivariate analyses were conducted. The results found that male and female college students with disordered eating are a high-risk drinking population. They reported higher rates of binge drinking, experienced more negative alcohol consequences, and engaged in more risky drinking behaviors and less protective drinking behaviors than college students without disordered eating. Additionally, most but not all, college students with disordered eating endorsed higher alcohol expectancies. College students with mild disordered eating also reported slightly worse outcomes to the program than students without disordered eating. The results suggest that college students with disordered eating should be targeted as a high-risk drinking population.