Associations between disordered eating behaviors and licit and illicit substance use and abuse in a university sample

Abstract

Objectives To examine associations between discrete eating disordered behaviors as well as clusters of eating disordered behaviors in relation to the use and abuse of a wide spectrum of substance classes, both licit and illicit, in a female university sample. Methods Women with particular types of eating disordered behaviors were selected from a pool of 526 students who completed the Women's Health Survey. Analyses compared the frequencies of lifetime engagement in a wide range of licit and illicit substances between each of the eating disorder groups and the normal control group. Results Associations were found between severe levels of alcohol consumption and binge eating, dieting with purging and the use of central nervous stimulants, and bingeing with dieting and tobacco use and the abuse of prescription medications. Conclusion Examining a broad range of substance classes, with differing physiological properties and effects, in relation to specific disordered eating behaviors, could contribute to theory development regarding the functions of the specific co-occurring behaviors.