College students' compensatory eating and behaviors in response to alcohol consumption.
OBJECTIVE
This study investigates college students' behaviors in response to the calories ingested by drinking alcohol.


METHODS
A sample of 274 nonclinical undergraduate alcohol drinkers completed an online survey asking about behaviors that students employed to make up for calories in alcohol or to get drunk more effectively. Drive for thinness, body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, and belief in a just world were also assessed to evaluate scale validity.


RESULTS
Participants reported engaging in exercise and dietary restriction as calorie control strategies both proactively and reactively and tended toward calorie restriction activities during drinking episodes. Relatively few reported engaging in more drastic strategies such as purging or laxative use. Women scored higher than men, and students living with friends scored higher than other students.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings have implications for health initiatives aimed at college students and suggest the importance of considering both social and cognitive factors.
Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620-7200, USA. judithbryant@usf.edu
Judith B
JB
Bryant
Jack
J
Darkes
Collin
C
Rahal
D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000523:psychology; D031204:Caloric Restriction / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000523:psychology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004032:Diet; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011594:Psychometrics; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult