Latent Exercise-alcohol Profiles And Relationships To Mental And Somatic Health Outcomes In Young Women

Women exhibit altered risk-benefit profiles for exercise and alcohol consumption than men. Women are less likely to engage in exercise, especially resistance exercise, and experience greater negative consequences from alcohol consumption than men. This highlights a need to examine how sex-specific effects of exercise and drinking patterns, including exercise type, affect women’s health outcomes. PURPOSE: To identify homogeneous subgroups of exercise and alcohol behaviors in young women using latent profile analysis (LPA) and evaluate differences between profiles on markers of mental and somatic health. METHODS: Three hundred women aged 18-25 completed an online survey that assessed exercise behaviors (frequency and duration of aerobic and resistance exercise); past 30-day drinking (frequency and quantity); depression, anxiety, and stress; body awareness; and premenstrual symptoms. LPA was performed on the exercise and alcohol data. Differences among profiles for health outcomes were compared using ANOVA. RESULTS: A four-profile solution provided the best fit (BIC = 15151.1, entropy = 0.96) and reflected a variety of exercise and drinking patterns: low exercise/low alcohol (n = 158), low exercise/high alcohol (n = 37), moderate exercise/moderate alcohol (n = 34), and high exercise/moderate alcohol (n = 71). Profile membership was related to depression (p = 0.038) and anxiety (p = 0.003), but not stress (p = 0.17). The high exercise/moderate alcohol group (depression: 9.1 ± 6.7; anxiety: 9.6 ± 7.9), who also exhibited the greatest exposure to resistance exercise, had lower depressive symptoms than the low exercise/low alcohol group (12.4 ± 9.2). Profiles had similar premenstrual symptoms (p = 0.38) but differed on body awareness (p = 0.040). The high exercise/moderate alcohol group (77.7 ± 17.1) had greater body awareness than the low exercise/low alcohol group (70.7 ± 18.4). CONCLUSION: Results illustrate exercise and alcohol may not be directly related in young women and suggest individual differences and exercise type likely impact the exercise-alcohol relationship. Resistance exercise, particularly in large quantities, appears to confer mental health benefits in young women; more research is needed to understand what facets of resistance exercise are beneficial. Supported by: FAA030178A; Society of Addiction Psychology Student Research Award