Similarities and Differences in Female Same-Sex Couples’ Drinking and Eating Behaviors
Description/Abstract/Artist Statement
Prior research has supported co-occurring hazardous alcohol use and disordered eating within individuals and concordance in couples’ drinking habits, with couples displaying similar hazardous drinking behavior. Less is known about concordance in couples’ eating behaviors, particularly in female same-sex couples. This study examined eating and alcohol use patterns in female same-sex couples where at least one couple member engaged in risky drinking. This study examined if couples had similar or differing drinking and disordered eating behaviors. An online survey with alcohol use and disordered eating measures was administered separately to both partners in 163 young female same-sex couples. Using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs), we measured the proportion of variance in drinking and disordered eating variables attributable to the couple level of analysis. Results showed partners were moderately similar in their hazardous drinking, with 29.2% of the binge drinking frequency variable, 35.5% of the average drinks/binge drinking day variable, and 28.3% of the problematic alcohol use variable explained at the couple-level. Conversely, of the disordered eating variables, 14% of eating cognitive restraint, 0.3% of body dissatisfaction, 2.8% of binge eating, 9.2% of dietary restriction, and 7.7% purging, were explained by the couple-level ICCs, indicating far lower within-couple similarities in disordered eating. Couple-level associations explained more variability in problematic alcohol use than disordered eating, suggesting partners were more similar in their drinking than disordered eating. Future research should explore why couples are less similar in their disordered eating than hazardous drinking and if this pattern is unique to female same-sex couples.
Faculty Advisor/Mentor
Kristin Heron
College Affiliation
College of Sciences
Presentation Type
Poster
Disciplines
Clinical Psychology | Health Psychology
Session Title
Poster Session
Location
Learning Commons @ Perry Library
Start Date
3-19-2022 9:00 AM
End Date
3-19-2022 11:00 AM
Similarities and Differences in Female Same-Sex Couples’ Drinking and Eating Behaviors
Learning Commons @ Perry Library
Prior research has supported co-occurring hazardous alcohol use and disordered eating within individuals and concordance in couples’ drinking habits, with couples displaying similar hazardous drinking behavior. Less is known about concordance in couples’ eating behaviors, particularly in female same-sex couples. This study examined eating and alcohol use patterns in female same-sex couples where at least one couple member engaged in risky drinking. This study examined if couples had similar or differing drinking and disordered eating behaviors. An online survey with alcohol use and disordered eating measures was administered separately to both partners in 163 young female same-sex couples. Using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs), we measured the proportion of variance in drinking and disordered eating variables attributable to the couple level of analysis. Results showed partners were moderately similar in their hazardous drinking, with 29.2% of the binge drinking frequency variable, 35.5% of the average drinks/binge drinking day variable, and 28.3% of the problematic alcohol use variable explained at the couple-level. Conversely, of the disordered eating variables, 14% of eating cognitive restraint, 0.3% of body dissatisfaction, 2.8% of binge eating, 9.2% of dietary restriction, and 7.7% purging, were explained by the couple-level ICCs, indicating far lower within-couple similarities in disordered eating. Couple-level associations explained more variability in problematic alcohol use than disordered eating, suggesting partners were more similar in their drinking than disordered eating. Future research should explore why couples are less similar in their disordered eating than hazardous drinking and if this pattern is unique to female same-sex couples.