Negative body image may up alcohol use among teen girls

High school girls who have body image misperceptions are more likely have engaged in episodes of heavy drinking, a new study has found.
Researchers sought to identify whether having a body image behavioural misperception (BIBM) - trying to lose, maintain or gain weight when there is no medical need to do so based on self-reported weight status - is associated with an increased alcohol use.
"Negative self-image can lead to negative behaviours. Body image and behavioural misperception occurs when actions are taken based on a perceived weight status or body image," said Margie Skeer from Tufts University in the US.

"We found significant relationships between this misperception and reporting ever having had alcohol, as well as reporting episodic heavy drinking among high school girls," said Skeer.
"Paying attention to this behaviour in this population could help identify factors supporting the relationship between this misperception and drinking, as well as other risk behaviours, beyond high school," she added.
Researchers analysed data from the 2013 US National Youth Risk Behaviour Surveillance System, a school-based survey.

Of the 6,579 female students ages 14-18, 37.5 per cent reported having a BIBM; 67.7 per cent of the girls had at least one drink in their lifetime; and 17.8 per cent had episodes of heavy drinking in the past 30 days.

Among high school girls with a BIBM, the odds of ever having had alcohol was 1.21 times greater than among girls who did not have a BIBM.
Looking at episodic heavy drinking - five or more alcoholic beverages within a couple hours - researchers found that girls who had a BIBM had a 1.22 times greater odds of having five or more alcoholic beverages in a short period of time compared with girls who did not have a BIBM.
Additional factors that increased the likelihood of heavy alcohol use included being in 12th grade, reporting depressive symptoms and smoking cigarettes in the last 30 days.

Girls who had a BIBM and identified as black or African American as compared to white or other races and ethnicities were associated with decreased odds of episodic heavy drinking.
The study was published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.