Sexual Orientation, Weight Concerns, and Eating-Disordered Behaviors in Adolescent Girls and Boys

Austin, S. Bryn; Ziyadeh, Najat J.; Kahn, Jessica A.; Camargo, Carlos A.; Colditz, Graham A.; Field, Alison E.

doi:10.1097/01.chi.0000131139.93862.10

Cited by 127 publications

(120 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…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.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 64%

Eating disorders in diverse lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations

Feldman

Meyer

2007

Intl J Eating Disorders

251

186

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Objective-This study estimates the prevalence of eating disorders in lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) men and women, and examines the association between participation in the gay community and eating disorder prevalence in gay and bisexual men.Method-One hundred and twenty six white heterosexuals and 388 white, black, Latino LGB men and women were sampled from community venues. DSM-IV diagnoses of anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder were assessed using the World Health Organization's Composite International Diagnostic Interview.Results-Gay and bisexual men had significantly higher prevalence estimates of eating disorders than heterosexual men. There were no differences in eating disorder prevalence between lesbian and bisexual women and heterosexual women, or across gender or racial groups. Attending a gay recreational group was significantly related to eating disorder prevalence in gay and bisexual men. Conclusion-Researchers should study the causes of the high prevalence of eating disorders among gay and bisexual men.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 64%

Eating disorders in diverse lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations

Feldman

Meyer

2007

Intl J Eating Disorders

251

186

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“…Whereas this group tends to be neglected in many studies, a few researchers have recently addressed the uniqueness of this particular group being distinct from exclusively heterosexual and lesbian/gay/bisexual (LGB) individuals (Austin, Conron, Patel, & Freedner, 2007;Austin, Roberts, Corliss, & Molnar, 2008;Saewyc et al, 2004;Thompson & Morgan, 2008;Savin-Williams & Vrangalova, 2013). In earlier research, this group has been estimated 6% to 10%, as compared to LGB peers estimated 1% to 4% (e.g., Austin, Ziyadeh, Fisher, Kahn, Colditz, & Frazier, 2004a;Saewyc, Richens, Skay, Reis, Poon, & Murphy, 2006;Saewyc et al, 2011), and found to be at higher risk than exclusively heterosexual peers for smoking (Austin et al, 2004a), eating disorder (Austin, Ziyadeh, Kahn, Camargo, Colditz, & Field, 2004b), and sexual risk behavior (Saewyc et al, 2006).…”

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confidence: 99%

Still a target: Sexual diversity and power of caring

Konishi

Saewyc

2013

School Psychology International

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This study examined the link between victimization and sexual orientation and how this link contributes to social-emotional health, extending to school-related outcomes among adolescents. Of additional interest was to explore the role of having caring adult support as a protective factor to reduce the risk for high levels of distress or enhance positive aspects of life experiences. Participants included 27,245 students (14,114 girls) in grades 7-12 in Western Canada. Results of logistic regression revealed that Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual youth who had experiences of being victimized were at greatest risk for social-emotional and school-related problems, including educational aspiration and activity engagement. Our results also showed that having caring support from parent or teacher significantly contributed to reducing the likelihood of experiencing socialemotional and educational difficulties even among victimized sexual minority students as well as heterosexual youth.

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“…emale youth who describe their sexual orientation as ''mostly heterosexual'' compared with exclusively (or 100%) heterosexual show evidence of greater health risks, including substance use, 1,2 eating disorder symptoms, 3 maltreatment, and sexual risk. [4][5][6] These youth who report some same sex attractions but do not identify as lesbian or bisexual are estimated to be 6%-10% of female youth.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual Risk in “Mostly Heterosexual” Young Women: Influence of Social Support and Caregiver Mental Health

Corliss

Austin

Roberts

et al. 2009

Journal of Women's Health

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Background: Female youth who describe their sexual orientation as ''mostly heterosexual,'' rather than exclusively heterosexual, display greater sexual risk, yet reasons for this greater risk are not understood. Research is needed to identify factors responsible for health disparities in this population comprising the majority of youth who report a minority sexual orientation. Methods: We compared indicators of perceived social support, parental=caregiver mental health, and sexual risk (age at first sexual intercourse, lifetime history of a sexually transmitted infection (STI), lifetime number of sexual partners) among 33 young women describing themselves as mostly heterosexual and 337 indicating they were 100% heterosexual (aged 18-24 years) participating in an urban, multiethnic, community-based cohort study. Linear, logistic, and Cox proportional hazards regression were used to test whether social support and caregiver mental health explained greater sexual risk among mostly heterosexual compared with heterosexual participants. Results: Compared with exclusively heterosexuals, mostly heterosexuals reported less social support from family ( p ¼ 0.01) and friends ( p ¼ 0.02) and were more likely to report primary male caregiver (though not primary female caregiver) histories of depression ( p < 0.0001), treatment for depression ( p < 0.0001), and problems with drug use ( p ¼ 0.005). Differences in perceived family social support and caregiver mental health and substance use partially mediated relationships between sexual orientation and sexual risk. Conclusions: Compared with exclusively heterosexual female youth, mostly heterosexual female youth may have poorer relationships with their family and others in their social networks, and this may contribute to their elevated health risks. Additional research is needed to understand causal mechanisms responsible for sexual orientation disparities in sexual risk.

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Sexual Orientation, Weight Concerns, and Eating-Disordered Behaviors in Adolescent Girls and Boys

Cited by 127 publications

References 36 publications

Eating disorders in diverse lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations

Eating disorders in diverse lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations

Still a target: Sexual diversity and power of caring

Sexual Risk in “Mostly Heterosexual” Young Women: Influence of Social Support and Caregiver Mental Health

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