Emotion dysregulation as a correlate of food and alcohol disturbance in undergraduate students.

Disordered eating behaviors (e.g., binge eating, food restriction, self-induced vomiting, and laxative use) as well as alcohol use and related issues are prevalent in undergraduate students and are often comorbid with one another. Recently, the unique combination of these behaviors, termed food and alcohol disturbance (FAD), has received empirical attention. FAD involves compensatory behaviors performed in preparation for, or in response to, alcohol use in order to counteract calories consumed from alcohol and/or to increase intoxication. Research on FAD is sparse; in particular, there is a lack of consensus regarding potential gender differences in FAD and a lack of knowledge concerning psychological correlates of these behaviors. Emotion dysregulation is a transdiagnostic correlate of psychopathology, including disordered eating and alcohol use, and therefore may relate to FAD. The present study used a cross-sectional design to examine associations between emotion dysregulation and FAD, as well as gender differences in this relationship, in a sample of male and female undergraduate students (N = 417; 51.8% female). There were no gender differences in FAD, and the associations between emotion dysregulation and FAD did not vary among men and women. FAD was positively associated with emotion dysregulation at the bivariate level, but emotion dysregulation was not uniquely associated with FAD after accounting for disordered eating, alcohol use and problems, and body mass index. Future research should extend the current findings by examining temporal associations between emotions, emotion dysregulation, and FAD.