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

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.