DIETING IN 6TH GRADE PREDICTS ALCOHOL-USE IN 9TH GRADE

Recent studies of community-based populations have shown that the como rbidity seen in clinical studies of individuals with eating disorders and substance abuse extends in a graded manner to subclinical levels o f each dysfunction as well as to adolescent populations. We hypothesiz ed that frequency of dieting in the sixth grade would predict later al cohol use in middle school students. Data from 1,905 participants in a middle school health promotion project were analyzed We found a posit ive, graded relationship between the frequency of dieting in the sixth grade and the frequency of alcohol intake in the ninth grade. We also found that frequency of dieting in sixth grade was a more powerful pr edictor of future drinking than such parameters as others' approval of alcohol use, perceptions of peer use of alcohol, and personal feeling s of shyness and self-satisfaction. Implications of these findings are discussed.