title: Why do women with alcohol problems binge eat? Exploring connections between binge eating and heavy drinking in women receiving treatment for alcohol problems.
abstract: Questionnaires assessing heavy drinking and binge eating were administered to 58 women with alcohol problems. A sub-sample of the binge-eaters then participated in qualitative interviews about their perceptions of the connections between their two problems. Seventy-one percent self-identified as binge-eaters with most reporting 'severe' binge eating. Binge-eaters were younger, more frequent drinkers and drank more often for emotional relief than non-binge-eaters. Binge eating and heavy drinking appeared to serve similar functions in a given client (i.e. emotional relief or reward functions). We discuss implications of the findings for the development of better treatments for women struggling with both health issues.
authors.affiliation: Dalhousie University, Canada. sherry.stewart@dal.ca
authors.forename: Sherry H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: Catrina G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Devoulyte
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Theakston
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Larsen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002032:Bulimia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D004644:Emotions / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012201:Reward; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires