Drug Abuse and Eating Disorders: Prevention Implications

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between drug and alcohol abuse and eating disorders in a sample of adolescent females using a self-report methodology. An Eating Disorders Risk (EDR) Scale is adopted and correlated with drug and alcohol use, other forms of deviance, family and peer relationships, and depression. The findings support the concept of a generalized theory of addictions based on psychosocial, family, and peer factors. Family and peer prevention applications and a need for further research on the correlates of depression are discussed.

Disordered eating and substance use in an epidemiological sample: I. associations within individuals

“…Among adolescents, all three substance classes were associated with both ED diagnostic classes. However, consistent with previous research (Watts & Ellis, 1992), associations with illicit drug misuse were weakest and least consistent. Among adult women, the strongest relationships involved alcohol: alcohol intoxication and dependence were associated with Restricting EDs and Bulimic EDs, respectively.…”

“…Also, we did not examine associations between individual illicit drugs and DE, and so cannot determine if particular relationships were of greater importance than others were. For example, Watts and Ellis (1992) found that inhalant and amphetamine use were the substances most consistently correlated with DE risk in their sample. The fact that the adolescent sample was composed of twins may limit the generalizability of those findings to nontwin samples, as twins may differ from nontwins in relevant respects (Klump, Keel, Leon, & Fulkerson, 1999).…”

“…Weak, positive correlations between SU and problem eating or ED``risk'' have been reported in female high school and college samples using self-report measures (Kashubeck & Mintz, 1996;Watts & Ellis, 1992). However, one study reported mixed results: BN individuals reported significantly more illicit drug use than psychiatric and normal controls but similar rates of alcohol use (Welch & Fairburn, 1996).…”

Eating disorders among female adolescents in Switzerland: Prevalence and associations with mental and behavioral disorders

“…This discussion also applies to drug use: The relations depend on the context, the age of the respondents, and the country but no clear tendency can be found (Jonas, Gold, Sweeney, & Pottash, 1987;Watts & Ellis, 1992;Tordjman, Zittou, Anderson, Flament, & Jeammet, 1994). Again, one explanation for the inconsistency of these associations lies in the fact that most of the conceptual links between the so-called ''psychopathologies of dependency'' (Vandereycken, 1990) are derived from clinical settings and observations and do not necessarily apply to larger normal populations (Vandereycken, 1990).…”

Factors associated with weight concerns in adolescent girls

“…Potential behavioral risk factors include excess dieting and binging (Leon, Fulkerson, Perry, & Cudeck, 1993). Potential social-environmental risk factors include peer pressure to diet and to be thin (Watts & Ellis, 1992;Crandall, 1988) and negative parental attitudes toward weight control (Humphrey, Apple, & Kirschenbaum, 1986;Strober & Humphrey, 1987). Cultural norms, particularly society's glamorization of thinness, are also likely to influence development of eating disorders (StriegelMoore et al, 1986).…”