Hazardous drinking and weight-conscious drinking behaviors in a sample of college students and college student athletes

ABSTRACT

Background: “Weight-conscious drinking” refers to behaviors to restrict calories in conjunction with consuming alcohol and is associated with numerous negative consequences. This behavior has been observed in the college student population but has not been examined among college student athletes. Methods: This cross-sectional study assessed drinking, hazardous drinking levels (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test—Consumption [AUDIT-C] sum score), and weight-conscious drinking behaviors (for weight loss purposes and for intoxication purposes) using a paper-and-pencil survey that was completed by students at a large, private university in the Southwest United States. The sample for this study included college student nonathletes (n = 482; 212 males and 270 females) who completed the survey in 1 of 34 classes and college student athletes (n = 201; 79 males and 122 females) who completed the survey during practice. These analyses examined whether hazardous drinking level and other personal covariates (gender, race, and athlete status) predicted the 2 weight-conscious drinking behaviors of interest. Results: Among the subsample of students who drank, the same proportion of participants indicated weight-conscious drinking behavior for weight loss and weight-conscious drinking behavior for intoxication (both 24.9%; n = 122). In the multivariate analyses, students with higher hazardous drinking scores and females were significantly more likely to report engaging in both weight-conscious drinking behaviors. In those analyses, neither weight-conscious drinking behavior varied by athlete status. Conclusions: In this sample of college students, hazardous drinking most predicted weight-conscious drinking behavior and superseded gender and athlete status. In response, college health professionals should consider evidenced-based approaches to address hazardous drinking.

KEYWORDS:

• College athletes
• college students
• hazardous drinking
• weight-conscious drinking

Author contributions

Dr. Gallucci conceived the study and collected the data. Drs. Martin and Chaney helped design the study by adding the measures used in the manuscript. Drs. Martin and Chaney also conducted the data analysis and interpreted the results. Dr. Martin and Ms. Vail-Smith reviewed and synthesized the relevant literature. All authors were involved with the writing of the manuscript.