ArticlePloS one2022
Body image disturbance and associated eating disorder and body dysmorphic disorder pathology in gay and heterosexual men: A systematic analyses of cognitive, affective, behavioral und perceptual aspects.
Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- The role of minority stress in disordered eating: a systematic review of the literature.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2024Pooled it
- The Dual Burden of Weight in YMSM: Structural Inequities and Body Image Pressures.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Bridging Body Image Disturbance and Body Dysmorphic Disorder Symptoms: A Symptom Network Study Among University Students.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- Emotion regulation and visual attention in body dysmorphic disorder: a multimodal study using EEG, GSR, and eye-tracking.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- Inclusive Nutrition Care for LGBT+ Patients: Challenges and Opportunities for Dietitians-A Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Investigating Eating Symptoms in the LGBTQIA+ Population: Do Discrimination and Adverse Conditions Matter?The International journal of social psychiatry · 2025Article
- Community norms of the Eating Pathology Symptoms Inventory (EPSI) in cisgender sexual minority adults.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2025Article
- Body evaluation in men: the role of body weight dissatisfaction in appearance evaluation, eating, and muscle dysmorphia psychopathology.Journal of eating disorders · 2024Article
- Men's use of cosmetic surgery and the role of traditional masculinity ideologies.Discover psychology · 2024Article
- Beyond Gender: Interoceptive Sensibility as a Key Predictor of Body Image Disturbances.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Obesity in Sexual and Gender Minority Populations: Prevalence and Correlates.Current obesity reports · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThis study contributes to the quantitatively large, yet narrow in scope research on body image in gay men by assessing whether gay and heterosexual men systematically differ on various dimensions of body image disturbance and associated pathology, i.e., eating disorder and body dysmorphic disorder symptoms. Moreover, we examined the influence of general everyday discrimination experiences and involvement with the gay community on body image.
methodN = 216 men (n = 112 gay men, n = 104 heterosexual men) participated in an online survey measuring the discrepancy between self-rated current and ideal body fat/ muscularity; drive for leanness, muscularity, and thinness; body satisfaction; body-related avoidance and checking; appearance fixing; overall body image disturbance; eating disorder and body dysmorphic disorder pathology; general everyday discrimination experiences; and involvement with the gay community.
resultsGay men showed a greater discrepancy between self-rated current and ideal body fat; higher drive for thinness, body-related avoidance, appearance fixing, overall body image disturbance, eating disorder and body dysmorphic disorder pathology; and lower body appreciation than heterosexual men (all p ≤ .05). Contrary to expectation, everyday discrimination experiences were more strongly associated with body image disturbance and eating disorder/ body dysmorphic disorder pathology in heterosexual men than in gay men (all p ≤ .05). Gay community involvement was not associated with any body image disturbance-, ED-, or BDD aspect in gay men (all p ≥ .20). DISCUSSION: The results suggest greater body image disturbance in gay men than in heterosexual men regarding cognitions, emotions, behaviors, and perception as well as higher eating disorder and body dysmorphic disorder pathology. The results also suggest the dilemma of a thin, yet muscular body ideal in gay men. Surprisingly, discrimination experiences and involvement with the gay community did not explain differences in body image disturbance. Gay men may have become resilient to discrimination over time, and body ideals might differ across gay sub-communities.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.