Prior research demonstrates contextual influences on drug responses in both animals and humans, although studies in humans typically focus on only one aspect of context (e.g., social) and examine a limited range of subjective experiences. The current study sought to address these limitations by examining the impact of both social and physical context on the full range of subjective alcohol effects. The sample included 448 young adult social drinkers (57% male, 66.5% White) randomly assigned to consume alcohol (target blood alcohol concentration of .08 g%) or placebo in 1 of 4 contexts (solitary lab, group lab, solitary bar, group bar). Results indicated that high arousal positive (HAP) effects of alcohol (e.g., talkative, lively) were stronger in nonbar relative to bar contexts and that low arousal positive (LAP) effects (e.g., relaxed, calm) were only present in the group lab context. There were also main effects of social context such that high arousal effects (both positive and negative) were stronger in group contexts, regardless of beverage condition. These findings highlight the importance of considering context when examining alcohol effects. Studies designed to isolate pharmacological HAP effects may benefit from a nonbar setting, and studies of LAP effects might be most effective in a simulated living room or home environment, although future studies are needed to directly address this possibility. Further, studies with an explicit focus on expectancies or that need strong control for expectancies might benefit from a group context, particularly when studying high arousal effects.

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The current study explored the rates of disordered eating behaviors across sexual minority undergraduate men and women. The sample included 3,411 undergraduate men and women from a large, public university. Participants completed a self-report, online questionnaire regarding sexual orientation, demographics, and disordered eating behaviors. Descriptive analyses revealed that women who have sex with women endorsed the greatest subclinical and clinical levels of self-induced vomiting and subclinical levels of laxative misuse. Women who have sex only with men reported rates of disordered eating behaviors consistent with the existing literature. High rates of subjective (62.5%) and objective (33.3%) binge eating were reported by women. Comparisons among men revealed men who have sex with men reported the high rates of subclinical objective binge eating. Men who have sex with both men and women reported high rates of clinical levels of objective binge eating. Multivariate analyses controlling for age and race/ethnicity, were conducted. There were statistically significant group difference of gender and sexual orientation on subjective binge eating. These findings demonstrate both statistically and clinically significant differences across sexual orientation groups.

The objective of this study—getting individuals to participate in eating disorder prevention programs—is difficult yet crucial for dissemination efforts. Little research has investigated what incentive strategies can be particularly efficacious, and even less is published on their cost-effectiveness. The following study examined two types of email advertisements and six incentive strategies in an empirically supported body acceptance program disseminated at a large university. A total of 5,978 undergraduate women received email advertisements, of which 430 signed up to participate. An additional 588 who did not participate were assessed. Results suggest the most effective incentives were offering gift certificates for free manicure services and free personal fashion style training gift certificates from a student organization. Undergraduate women were least likely to attend due to lack of knowledge about the program, not having a friend to attend with them, or inconvenient times. Implications for future research are explored.

The Body Project is effective at reducing disordered eating regardless of whether participants liked the program or not.