Family functioning and drunkorexia behaviors during adolescence

Drunkorexia is an at-risk behavior consisting in dietary restriction before the assumption of alcoholic beverages, for reducing the caloric intake or for enhancing the alcohol effects. This study investigated the role of family functioning in predicting drunkorexia behaviors in adolescence, controlling for the effects of individual variables (gender, age), binge drinking and drunkorexia motives. Participants were 269 Italian adolescents aged 16 to 21 years. Self-report questionnaires were administered at school. Drunkorexia was found positively predicted by binge drinking and drunkorexia motives (enhancement and conformity), whilst was negatively predicted by an adaptive family functioning. Clinical and research implications are discussed.