“… because I'm so drunk at the time, the last thing I'm going to think about is calories”: Strengthening the argument for Drunkorexia as a food and alcohol disturbance, evidence from a qualitative study

OBJECTIVES: Drunkorexia are inappropriate compensatory behaviours in response to alcohol consumption (restricting food intake, excessive exercise, and purging). Past (predominantly quantitative) research shows that Drunkorexia is prevalent in 18-26-year-olds, and has significant negative health-related consequences. There is a debate whether Drunkorexia constitutes an eating or substance disorder, or a Food and Alcohol Disturbance (FAD). To further explore this, and understand underlying motivators, this study utilized qualitative methods. DESIGN: Qualitative interviews with ten participants (aged 18-26). METHODS: Interviews were analysed with Thematic Analysis. RESULTS: Three themes were developed: (1) Appearance concerns as motivators, (2) Drunkorexia behaviours to get value for money, and (3) "It's just a pattern… something I've always done": Drunkorexia as a routine. Results show that Drunkorexia is driven by appearance-related concerns, such as, wanting to look better/slimmer, engaged in, in relation to an event, such as going out drinking, and carried out despite negative health-related consequences. However, disregard for compensatory behaviours once drunk was also described, culminating in the consumption of high-calorie food. This suggests that Drunkorexia is not a persistent pattern of maladaptive behaviour as found in eating or substance use disorders. Wanting value for money (i.e., feeling the maximum intoxication) was described as another reason for Drunkorexia engagement; thus showing that participants consider compensatory behaviours part of their routine of going out drinking. CONCLUSIONS: These result support the view of Drunkorexia as a FAD, rather than an eating or substance use disorder, and show that 18-26-year-olds are an at-risk group for Drunkorexia and its negative health-related consequences.