An Application of the Prototype Willingness Model
Open Access DepositedExamining Day-Level Predictors and Consequences of Food and Alcohol Disturbance
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restricting caloric intake prior to, or during drinking alcohol to quicken/intensify intoxication [FAD-intoxication] and/or to offset calories from alcohol [FAD-calories] is common among college students and is positively associated with alcohol use and related negative consequences. While these associations are robust, nearly all studies to date have relied on cross-sectional data. As a result, it remains unclear how these variables relate at the daily level. Therefore, the first aim of this study is to investigate whether college students report more alcohol use and negative consequences on days they engage in FAD compared to when they drink alcohol but do not engage in FAD. Further, much research has focused on identifying who is at greatest risk of engaging in FAD, however, it is equally critical to investigate when FAD is most likely to occur. Therefore, the second aim of this study is to apply the prototype willingness model to examine which FAD-related cognitions predict FAD at the daily level. Participants were college students (n = 73) from George Washington University who reported weekly alcohol use and past month FAD engagement. Participants identified primarily as female (73.8%), White non-Hispanic (51.4%), with a mean age of 19.64 (SD = 1.35). Participants completed a baseline survey as well as daily surveys (Wednesday-Sunday) for five weeks. College students reported more alcohol use and, in turn, more negative consequences on days when they engaged in FAD-intoxication or FAD-calories compared to when they drank alcohol but did not engage in these behaviors. In addition, the present study found intentions and willingness were significant day-level predictors of FAD-intoxication and FAD-calories. Further, social cognitions played a key role in FAD-calories engagement. On days when college students perceived more of their friends were going to engage in FAD-calories, they reported higher intentions as well as willingness to do the same, which in turn predicted their own FAD-calories engagement that day. Further, on days when college students perceived themselves to be more similar to individuals who engage in FAD-calories, they were more willing to engage in FAD-calories that same day which in turn predicted their own FAD-calories engagement. Overall, this study reinforces the public health significance of FAD and provides initial evidence of cognitions that may be targeted to reduce its prevalence among college students.
Food and alcohol disturbance (FAD
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