THE EFFECT OF FOOD-DEPRIVATION ON ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION IN BULIMIC AND CONTROL WOMEN

The effect of food deprivation on alcohol self-administration was exam ined in five women with bulimia nervosa and five healthy controls in a semi-naturalistic experimental design. In this within-subjects study, each individual underwent two food-deprived and two non-deprived sess ions. The deprivation condition consisted of no food or caloric bevera ges for 19 hours prior to the experimental procedure. On each of the 4 days, subjects watched a 2-hour segment of an epic movie and were per mitted to drink ad libitum. No differences were observed in the number of grams of alcohol consumed under deprived and non-deprived for eith er group. Breath alcohol levels were significantly higher under the no n-deprived condition despite equivalent amounts of alcohol consumed an d similar ratings of the subjective sense of tipsiness Bulimic consume d equivalent calories due to alcohol as control women but significantl y fewer calories due to non-alcoholic beverages. These results do not support the hypothesis that food deprivation leads to increased self-a dministration of alcohol in women.