SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND PREVALENCE OF BODY DISSATISFACTION AND EATING-DISORDERED BEHAVIORS - A POPULATION-BASED STUDY OF ADOLESCENTS

Objective: The hypothesis that homosexual orientation would be associa ted with higher rates of body dissatisfaction, dieting, and eating dis ordered behaviors in males, but lower rates in females, relative to th ose of heterosexual orientation, was examined. Methods: A population-b ased sample of 36,320 students in Grades 7 through 12 completed a heal th behavior survey that included questions on sexual orientation, body satisfaction, and weight control behaviors. A subset of heterosexual males (N = 212) and females (N = 182) were selected for comparison wit h the adolescents who self-identified as homosexual (N = 81 males and N = 38 females) or bisexual (N = 131 males and N = 144 females). Resul ts: Homosexual males were more likely to report a poor body image (27. 8% vs. 12.0%), frequent dieting (8.9% vs. 5.5%), binge eating (25.0% v s. 10.6%), or purging behaviors (e.g., vomiting: 11.7% vs. 4.4%) compa red with heterosexual males. Homosexual females were more likely than heterosexual females to report a positive body image (42.1% vs. 20.5%) . However, they were not less likely to report frequent dieting (20.8% vs. 23.7%), binge eating (25.0% vs. 31.8%), or purging behaviors (e.g . vomiting: 19.4% vs. 12.1%). Discussion: These results support the hy pothesis that homosexual orientation is associated with greater body d issatisfaction and problem eating behaviors in males, but less body di ssatisfaction in females. The possible role of sociocultural influence s or gender identification on these relationships is discussed. (C) 19 96 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.