Drive for Muscularity and Disordered Eating Behavior in Males: the Mediating Role of Cognitive Appraisal

Abstract

There is mixed evidence for the relationship between increased levels of the drive for muscularity (DFM) and disordered eating behavior in males, therefore this study analysed the relationship between DFM and disordered eating behavior, giving particular relevance to the patterns of cognitive appraisal. A convenience sample was recruited from fitness centres and sport clubs with 308 participants, all males. Losing muscular mass represented a negative experience for participants, promoting a higher perception of threat appraisal. In addition, losing muscular mass was related to more muscularity-oriented behaviors and disordered eating behavior. Cognitive appraisal mediates the relation between DFM and disordered eating behavior. The results highlight the role of cognitive appraisal in DFM and disordered eating behavior in males in sport contexts.

Drive for Muscularity in Lithuanian Male Students: Psychometrics and Associated Characteristics

“…These associations confirm the good convergent validity of the scale. These associations go in line with other studies validating drive for muscularity scale in other cultures (Arellano-Pérez et al, 2019;Gomes et al, 2019;Kling et al, 2019;Sepulveda et al, 2016;Stratton, Donovan, Bramwell, & Loxton, 2015;Swami et al, 2016).…”

“…ody image concerns and disordered eating behaviors have been historically more extensively studied in women compared to men. Nevertheless, existing findings suggest that a significant part of men suffer from body image concerns and dysfunctional behaviors (Gomes, Simães, Dias, Almeida, & Gonçalves, 2019;Tylka, 2011). Research has demonstrated that girls and women are pressured to attain the thin ideal and strive for thinness (Cruz-Sáez, Pascual, Salaberria, Etxebarria, & Echeburúa, 2015).…”

“…The drive for muscularity is an individual's motivation to become more muscular (McCreary et al, 2004). Research has demonstrated that drive for muscularity is associated with the psychological distress, depressive symptoms (DeBlaere & Brewster, 2017;Eik-Nes, Austin, Blashill, Murray, & Calzo, 2018), internalized shame (Larison & Pritchard, 2019), neurotism (Benford & Swami, 2014), low self-esteem (Sepulveda, Parks, de Pellegrin, Anastasiadou, & Blanco, 2016;Swami, Barron, Lau, & Jaafar, 2016), internalization of the muscular ideals (Stratton, Donovan, Bramwell, & Loxton, 2015a), muscularity dissatisfaction (Chaba, d'Arripe-Longueville, Lentillon-Kaestner, & Scoffier-Mériaux, 2018;Liu, Chang, Gill, Wu, & Lu, 2019), difficulties in emotional regulation (Sepulveda et al, 2016), dieting and use of musclebuilding products (Eik-Nes et al, 2018), disordered eating (Arellano-Pérez, Vázquez-Cervantes, Fernández Cortés, & Saucedo-Molina, 2019;Bratland-Sanda & Sundgot-Borgen, 2012;Gomes et al, 2019;Lavender, Brown, & Murray, 2017;Liu et al, 2019), binge drinking (Eik-Nes et al, 2018) and greater hours participating in gyms (Keum, Wong, DeBlaere, & Brewster, 2015). The drive for muscularity scale (McCreary et al, 2004) is one of the main psychometrically sound measures for the exploration of the athletic/muscular -related body image (Kling et al, 2019).…”

The Role of Body Image, Disordered Eating and Lifestyle on the Quality of Life in Lithuanian University Students

“…The 7-item (3, 4, 10, 15, 16, 17, and 18) physical health domain includes questions about dependence on medicinal substances and medical aids, pain and discomfort, activities of daily living, energy and fatigue, mobility, sleep, and rest and work capacity. The 6-item (5,6,7,11,19, and 26) psychological health domain includes questions about self-esteem, body image and appearance, negative and positive feelings, spirituality-religion, personal beliefs, and concentration. The social relations domain assesses personal relationships, social support, and sexual activity; it comprises 3 items (from 20 to 22).…”

“…These desires are associated with the drive for muscularity, which comprise muscle-gain -related attitudes and behaviors such as muscle-gain-related eating, excessive exercising, and dieting [5]. Studies in men have demonstrated that men's athletic/muscular and thin ideal internalizations are associated with the development of pathologic eating as well [6,7].…”