Sexual minority status and food and alcohol disturbance among college students: The moderating role of body esteem

Abstract

Food and alcohol disturbance (FAD; restricting caloric intake before, during, or after drinking to either offset calories or to increase intoxication) is common among college students and poses a threat to students' health. In conjunction, sexual minority (SM; i.e., not exclusively heterosexual) college students may be at increased risk of engaging in alcohol misuse and disordered eating compared to their heterosexual peers due to exposure to minority stress. However, little research has examined whether engagement in FAD differs by SM status. Body esteem (BE) is an important resilience factor among SMs that may influence SM students' risk of participating in FAD. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to understand the association between SM status and FAD with additional interest in BE as a moderating factor. Participants were 459 college students who engaged in past 30-day binge drinking. Most participants identified as White (66.7 %), female (78.4 %), heterosexual (69.3 %), with a mean age of 19.60 (SD = 1.54) years. Participants completed two surveys (3 weeks apart) over the course of an academic semester. Analyses revealed a significant interaction between SM status and BE, such that SMs with lower BE (T1) reported more engagement in FAD-intoxication (T2), whereas SMs with higher BE (T1) reported less engagement in FAD-calories (T2) and FAD-intoxication (T2) than their heterosexual peers. Stressors associated with body esteem may contribute to increased FAD engagement among SM students. Consequently, BE may be an especially important target for interventions aimed at reducing FAD among SM college students.