Teenage Girls With Poor Body Image Drink More, Study Says
Researchers at Tufts University have made a sobering discovery about teenage girls. Those who have unhealthy relationships with their own bodies are more likely to drink alcohol, according to a study published in the January 2017 Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
“The odds of alcohol use increased to 1.29 times among girls with body image misperception,” according to the Daily Mail. The study noted that girls were 1.22 times more likely to consume five or more alcoholic drinks in a short time period if they had poor body image. And the odds of this phenomenon happening increased as the girls progressed in school from grades nine through 12.
“Negative self-image can lead to negative behaviors. Body image and behavioral misperception occurs when actions are taken based on a perceived weight status or body image,” the study’s senior author, Margie Skeer, told the Daily Mail. She emphasized that paying attention to the relationship between body image and drinking habits in teen girls can help ward off addiction and other toxic behaviors beyond high school.
The study also uncovered that ethnicity plays a role in the relationship between self-perception and drinking, but it doesn’t explain why. Hispanic girls were more likely to engage in drinking if they had a negative body image compared to Caucasian girls — and especially compared to African-American girls, who were the least likely to pick up a drink, even if they had body image problems, according to the Daily Mail.
Sexual behavior also influenced the tendency to drink. Girls who reported being sexually active before the age of 13 were more likely to pick up a drink, the article says.
It’s important to note, though, that the study relied on the girls’ own reporting — it was an honor system, which leaves room for error, of course. The authors of the study cited that this could be a “significant limitation.”
That said, it shouldn’t detract from the message of the study — that girls with an unhealthy body image are likely to drink heavily. The authors certainly aren’t letting that hold them back. “We are beginning to understand how the relationship between BIBM and alcohol use is manifesting,” first and corresponding author Anna Schlissel told the Daily Mail. “Next up is to figure out when the relationship is developing and what is further driving it.”
She emphasized that further research will be conducted to determine whether the drinking behavior is a cause or effect of the poor body image. “It is not possible to conclude whether the respondents are using alcohol as a weight change mechanism or as a technique to feel more socially accepted and more comfortable with themselves,” the authors concluded.
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