Loneliness and Alcohol-Related Problems among College Students Who Report Binge Drinking Behavior: The Moderating Role of Food and Alcohol Disturbance

Authors

Luke Herchenroeder
Stacy M Post
Michelle L Stock
Ellen W Yeung

Publication Date

10-27-2022

Journal

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Abstract

Loneliness and alcohol misuse are common among college students and pose a threat to public health. To better understand the longitudinal association between these public health concerns we examined food and alcohol disturbance (FAD; i.e., restricting one's caloric intake prior to drinking) as a moderator in the association between loneliness and alcohol-related problems. Participants were 456 college students from a mid-sized university who engaged in past 30-day binge drinking. The majority of participants identified as being White (67.1%), female (78.1%), and reported a mean age of 19.61 (SD = 1.54) years. Participants completed two surveys (3 weeks apart) over the course of an academic semester. Analyses revealed a significant interaction between loneliness and FAD, such that loneliness (T1) significantly and positively predicted alcohol-related problems (T2), but only among individuals who engaged in relatively higher levels of FAD (T1). FAD may be an appropriate target for interventions aimed at reducing alcohol-related problems among college students experiencing loneliness.

Keywords

Adult, Female, Humans, Young Adult, Alcohol Drinking, Alcohol-Related Disorders, Binge Drinking, Ethanol, Loneliness, Students, Universities, loneliness, food and alcohol disturbance, alcohol, binge drinking, college students

DOI

10.3390/ijerph192113954

PMID

36360841

PMCID

PMC9658452

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

October 2022

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Published Open-Access

yes