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Women of diverse sexual identities admit to eating disorder treatment with differential symptom severity but achieve similar clinical outcomes
Author(s) -
Murray Matthew F.,
Cox Shelbi A.,
Henretty Jennifer R.,
HaedtMatt Alissa A.
Publication year - 2021
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.23576
Subject(s) - lesbian , psychology , population , sexual minority , heterosexuality , sexual orientation , human sexuality , quality of life (healthcare) , eating disorders , clinical psychology , psychiatry , medicine , demography , homosexuality , psychotherapist , social psychology , gender studies , sociology , psychoanalysis , environmental health
Objective Sexual minority (SM) women may be at increased risk for certain eating disorder (ED) symptoms and report distinct body image concerns compared to heterosexual women. However, it is unclear how such symptoms differ across sexual orientations in treatment‐seeking women, or if there are differences in treatment outcomes. This study examined group differences in (1) ED symptomatology at admission in a disaggregated sample of SM and heterosexual women presenting for ED treatment and (2) treatment outcomes. Methods Adult women who admitted to higher levels of ED treatment across 48 locations of one treatment center between 2015 and 2018 completed self‐report measures of ED symptomatology and quality of life (QOL) at admission and discharge. Participants identified their sexualities as heterosexual ( n = 2,502, 80.2%), lesbian/gay ( n = 134, 4.3%), bisexual ( n = 270, 8.7%), “other” ( n = 136, 4.4%), and unsure ( n = 78, 2.5%). Objectives 1 and 2 were tested using one‐way and repeated measures analyses of variance, respectively. Results Group differences at admission emerged between lesbian/gay and heterosexual, bisexual and heterosexual, and bisexual and “other”‐identified women on preoccupation and restriction, fasting, self‐induced vomiting, shape and weight concern, and QOL. Bisexual women, in particular, admitted with the highest severity and at younger ages compared to heterosexual women. Despite such differences, women across groups achieved similar treatment outcomes at discharge. Discussion Study findings underscore the importance of subgroup analyses of ED symptoms in SM women and have both clinical and research implications related to ED symptomatology in this population.