Supervisors info:
Τζαβέλλας Ηλίας, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Παπαρρηγόπουλος Θωμάς, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Τριανταφύλλου Καλλιόπη, Επιστημονική Συνεργάτις, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
Introduction: Drunkorexia is a phenomenon characterized by calorie restriction before, during, or after alcohol use to avoid gaining weight or maximize intoxication. Several studies have focused on drunkorexia, however, the risk factors that may be associated with the appearance of drunkorexic behavior are not apparent. Two of the factors that seem to contribute to the development of drunkorexia are drinking motives and emotion dysregulation. At the same time, an important variable, that seems to be associated with how the above two factors will manifest, is gender.
Aim: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relation between drunkorexia and drinking motives, as well as emotion dysregulation in young adults in Greece. Simultaneously, it focuses on the role of gender in developing these relationships. In particular, it focuses on which of the drinking motives are most related to the development of drunkorexic behavior. Also, as far as emotion dysregulation is concerned it focuses on the relationship between emotion dysregulation and the symptoms of drunkorexia.
Method: The present study is cross-sectional and was conducted using the Google Forms platform. The sample was 227 young adults from 18 to 25 years old (132 women and 95 men, mean age: 21,9, SD= 2,3 years). The sample collection process occurred from November 20, 2023, to January 20, 2024. The participants completed online: a demographic questionnaire, the Compensatory Eating and Behavior in Response to Alcohol Consumption Scale – CEBRACS, the Drinking Motives Questionnaire-Revised – DMQR, and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale – DERS. The statistical analysis was conducted through the use of SPSS.
Results: The results showed that enhancement motives were associated with drunkorexia, as a significant and positive relationship was shown with the dimension of alcohol use (p= 0,033). At the same time, coping motives showed a correlation with most dimensions of drunkorexia (“coping motives – diet and exercise” p= 0,015, “coping motives – alcohol use” p< 0,001, “coping motives – diuretic use” p= 0,035, “coping motives – restriction” p< 0,001). Regarding the gender factor, it did not seem to affect the relationships being studied. There was no statistically significant difference between the genders in any of the dimensions of drunkorexia (p>0,05).
Conclusions: The present research is an attempt to study the relationship between drinking motives and emotion dysregulation with drunkorexia. At the same time, it focuses on the role that gender plays in these relationships. The results demonstrated that coping motives had the greatest correlation with drunkorexia. Therefore, it appears that individuals resort to drunkorexia behavior to deal with their negative emotions. Furthermore, gender did not appear to influence the relationship between drunkorexia with drinking motives, as well as with emotion dysregulation.
Keywords:
Drunkorexia, Drinking motives, Emotion dysregulation, Gender
