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The impact of relationships on the association between sexual orientation and disordered eating in men
Author(s) -
Brown Tiffany A.,
Keel Pamela K.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/eat.22013
Subject(s) - disordered eating , sexual orientation , psychology , heterosexuality , association (psychology) , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , sexual minority , eating disorders , homosexuality , social psychology , psychoanalysis , psychotherapist
Objective: Robust evidence supports that bisexual and gay (BG) men have increased eating pathology compared to heterosexual men. BG men may be at greater risk due to pressure to attract a male partner; however, the related implication that relationships serve as protective factors for BG men remains untested. Method: BG ( n = 42) and heterosexual men ( n = 536) completed surveys to determine whether relationship status and satisfaction moderate sexual orientation's effect on disordered eating. Results: Single BG men had increased restrictive disordered eating compared to single heterosexual men, while few differences were found between BG and heterosexual men in relationships. Relationship satisfaction was not related to restrictive disordered eating; however, low relationship satisfaction was associated with increased bulimic symptomatology in BG men compared to heterosexual men. Discussion: Being in a relationship, independent of whether or not the relationship is satisfying, may be a protective factor for restrictive disordered eating in BG men. © 2012 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Int J Eat Disord 2012; 45:792–799)