Examining Drunkorexia Among Sorority and Non-Sorority Women

Indianapolis, IN

Drunkorexia is becoming more prevalent among college students in the US. Burke (2010) defines drunkorexia as "caloric restriction among students prior to planned alcohol consumption." This behavior reflects the coupling of eating disorder tendencies with the extensive use of alcohol. College students who are highly physically active are more likely to binge drink than their nonactive peers (Barry & Piazza-Gardner, 2012). It is possible that they use their physical activity to compensate for their calories that they consume from alcohol. Moreover, 14% of first year students reported restricted caloric intake prior to consuming alcohol (Burke et al., 2010). In addition, alcohol consumption relates to Greek affiliation (i.e., sorority or fraternity membership). Specifically, those involved in Greek life consume significantly more alcohol than those who are not involved (Buscemi et al., 2011). It is unknown if Greek membership is related to drunkorexia tendencies. The purpose of this study is to find the relationship between Greek affiliation and drunkorexic tendencies in college women. This study used an online cross-sectional survey, which was administered to 177 female participants attending a mid-sized Midwestern university. The sample reported being Caucasian (94.9%) and has a mean age of 20.26. Approximately, 42.9% are members of a sorority, 1.7% plan to pledge, and 54.8% are not affiliated with a sorority. There was no significant relationship between sorority affiliation and drunkorexic behaviors. However, there were significant differences in the drinking tendencies between these two groups (members and non-members). Replicating the research, those who were members of a sorority admitted to drinking more often (M = 2.43 days a week), than those who were unaffiliated (M = 1.41 days a week). Those who were affiliated also admitted to drinking an average of 4.5 drinks during these occasions and those who were unaffiliated drank an average of 3.48. The drinking habits seem to be different for each of these groups even though the prevalence of drunkorexia was not statistically significant. This suggests that each group might have different motivation behind their drunkorexia. The findings from this study will help future researchers understand the impact of drunkorexia and how it influences college students.