Problem Drinking, Gambling and Eating Among Undergraduate University Students. What are the Links?

Abstract

Problematic drinking, gambling and eating are elevated among undergraduate university students but our understanding of how they are linked is limited. In this study, drinking, gambling and eating were assessed across a number of dimensions: drinking and gambling involvement, associated negative consequences, impairment of control, and motives; and disordered eating concerns and behaviours, loss of control over eating, and eating expectancies (N = 301). Canonical correlation analysis revealed that drinking and gambling were linked through a factor of general problematic involvement (R = 0.43): students who drank more, experienced more negative consequences and stronger social and coping motives for drinking, also had greater gambling involvement, impaired control, negative consequences, and stronger motives for gambling. These results are broadly consistent with a general problem syndrome model of underlying vulnerabilities. Results showed that there was also a small relationship between the alcohol and the eating variables (R = 0.40), reflecting a negative relationship between problematic alcohol involvement and a dimension of eating attitudes and behaviors. These results are not fully consistent with a problem syndrome model and instead suggest eating and alcohol serve different purposes among students, and that there is not a unitary relationship between eating attitudes and behaviors and alcohol involvement and motives. Finally, we observed no link between eating and gambling variables, which suggests these behaviors, are distinct. Men reported more alcohol and gambling-related involvement and concerns and women more eating-related concerns but principal component analysis suggested that, despite different levels of involvement, associations among these variables were similar for both genders.

Sensitivity for Cues Predicting Reward and Punishment in Young Women with Eating Disorders

“…Moreover, the results cast further doubts on the role of SR within the context of EDs. Although the SOT has been used in the domain of substance abuse before (van Hemel‐Ruiter et al ., ) and parallels have often been drawn between EDs and substance abuse (Loxton & Dawe, ; Hodgins, von Ranson, & Montpetit, ), the present findings suggest that there are also important differences between addiction and EDs with regard to the attentional processes involved. While attentional bias towards signals predicting reward has been found to be positively associated with substance abuse (van Hemel‐Ruiter et al ., ), it seems that both attentional bias towards signals predicting punishment and reward might be positively associated with disordered eating, depending on which specific ED is considered (AN‐R in which attentional disengagement towards signals predicting reward seems to play an important role or B/P in which attentional disengagement towards signals predicting punishment seems to be a key factor).…”

“…While attentional bias towards signals predicting reward has been found to be positively associated with substance abuse (van Hemel‐Ruiter et al ., ), it seems that both attentional bias towards signals predicting punishment and reward might be positively associated with disordered eating, depending on which specific ED is considered (AN‐R in which attentional disengagement towards signals predicting reward seems to play an important role or B/P in which attentional disengagement towards signals predicting punishment seems to be a key factor). This is in line with previous results indicating that different motives are involved in alcohol use compared with motives underlying disordered eating (Hodgins et al ., ).…”

Component Model of Addiction Treatment: A Pragmatic Transdiagnostic Treatment Model of Behavioral and Substance Addictions

“…The empirical literature has consistently found that of all the motives, coping motives has been robustly associated with problematic engagement of addictive behaviors, including both behavioral and substance addictions ( 56 , 126 ). Moreover, our recent work suggests that common motives underlie comorbid alcohol, gambling, and eating problems ( 127 , 128 ).…”

Positive and Negative Association Rules Mining for Mental Health Analysis of College Students

“…We combined the ten factors and the gender of the subjects as the research objects. Data mining techniques are used to study the relationship between mental health factors and the health factors (Hodgins, D. C., et al 2015).…”