British research into the increased vulnerability of young gay men to eating disturbance and body dissatisfaction

Abstract

Forty-one young gay British males (aged between 15 and 25 years) and 47 heterosexual men were compared on measures of eating disturbance and body dissatisfaction. All participants completed a questionnaire containing a number of previously validated scales including EAT-26, the BSS and a series of line-drawings. Gay participants scored higher on all measures of eating disturbance and were more dissatis®ed with their bodies. The gay sample chose ideal images that were signi®-cantly slimmer than the heterosexuals and were much more likely to show symptoms of a clinical disorder. Results from gay participants revealed strong correlations between levels of eating disturbance, self-esteem and body dissatisfaction whilst these relationships did not achieve signi®cance for heterosexuals. The ®ndings strongly con®rm American research that suggests that gay men are particularly vulnerable to serious eating disturbance. Potential explanations and implications of these ®ndings for gay men and those who work with them are brie¯y discussed.

Eating disorders in diverse lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations

“…We found that gay and bisexual men have a higher prevalence of eating disorders than heterosexual men, which is consistent with our hypothesis based on the socio-cultural perspective and with reports in the literature. 8,9,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]44 We also found that the prevalence of eating disorders among lesbians and bisexual women is comparable to heterosexual women. Past research on lesbians and eating disorders has yielded mixed results.…”

A Preliminary Investigation of Body Dissatisfaction and Eating Disorder Symptomatology with Bisexual Individuals

“…Gay men with high levels of body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms experience compromised psychological well-being (Gil 2007;Levesque and Vichesky 2006;Olivardia et al 2004), including low self-esteem, low selfworth, and depression (Beren et al 1996;Chaney 2008;Hospers and Jansen 2005;Reilly and Rudd 2006;Russell and Keel 2002;Tiggemann et al 2007; Williamson and Hartley 1998;Yelland and Tiggemann 2003). The host of negative psychological sequelae associated with the appearance-laden pressures of gay culture may be explained, at least in part, by objectification theory .…”

“…However, previous studies have failed to independently consider the experiences of bisexual men. Extant research has either removed bisexual respondents from the sample or grouped the responses of bisexual men with those of gay men (Beren et al 1996;Duggan and McCreary 2004;Feldman and Meyer 2007;Gil 2007;Hospers and Jansen 2005;Kimmel and Mahalik 2005;Russell and Keel 2002;Siever 1994;Williamson and Hartley 1998;Yelland and Tiggemann 2003). This is a notable omission since body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms among bisexual men may differ markedly from gay men.…”

Body Satisfaction in Gym-active Males: An Exploration of Sexuality, Gender, and Narcissism

“…There is mixed evidence regarding significant differences in body satisfaction of gay and straight males, with some studies finding no significant differences (e.g. Boroughs and Thompson 2002;King and Fletcher 2003;Hausmann et al 2004), and other studies finding gay males more dissatisfied than straight males (e.g., Beren et al 1996;Kaminski et al 2005;Lakkis et al 1999;Silberstein et al 1989;Williamson and Hartley 1998). Within the gay culture of Sydney, where stereotyped images of the ideal body abound, gay men may exhibit more body dissatisfaction than straight men, even through their femininity scores may be higher.…”