Patients undergoing bariatric surgery are at risk for devloping an alcohol use disorder (AUD). The purpose of this study was to investigate pre-surgical psychosocial risk factors for post-surgical alcohol consumption and hazardous drinking. Participants (N = 567) who underwent bariatric surgery between 2014 and 2017 reported their post-surgical alcohol use. Information was collected from the pre-surgical evaluation including history of alcohol use, psychiatric symptoms, and maladaptive eating behaviors (i.e., binge eating, purging, and emotional eating). Younger age and pre-surgical alcohol use predicted post-surgical alcohol use and hazardous drinking. In addition, higher levels of depressive symptoms and maladaptive eating patterns predicted post-surgical binge drinking. Clinicians conducting pre-surgical psychosocial evaluations should be aware of the multiple risk factors related to post-surgical problematic alcohol use. Future research should evaluate whether preventive interventions for high-risk patients decrease risk for post-surgical alcohol misuse.
Keywords: Alcohol use; Bariatric surgery; Maladaptive eating; Psychiatric symptoms.
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