Community norms for the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire among cisgender gay men

Jason M Nagata; Matthew R Capriotti; Stuart B Murray; Emilio J Compte; Scott Griffiths; Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo; Juno Obedin-Maliver; Annesa Flentje; Micah E Lubensky; Mitchell R Lunn

doi:10.1002/erv.2708

Community norms for the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire among cisgender gay men

Eur Eat Disord Rev. 2020 Jan;28(1):92-101. doi: 10.1002/erv.2708. Epub 2019 Dec 2.

Authors

Jason M Nagata¹, Matthew R Capriotti^{2

3

4}, Stuart B Murray⁵, Emilio J Compte^{5

6

7}, Scott Griffiths⁸, Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo^{3

9}, Juno Obedin-Maliver^{4

10}, Annesa Flentje^{4

5

11}, Micah E Lubensky^{4

12}, Mitchell R Lunn^{4

12}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
² Department of Psychology, San José State University, San Jose, California, USA.
³ Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
⁴ The PRIDE Study/PRIDEnet, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
⁶ School of Human and Behavioral Sciences, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
⁷ DBT-Eating Disorders Team, Fundación Foro, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
⁸ Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁹ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
¹¹ Department of Community Health Systems, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
¹² Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.

Abstract

Objective: Prior norms of the Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) among men have not considered sexual orientation. This study's objective was to assess EDE-Q community norms among cisgender gay men.

Method: Participants were 978 self-identified cisgender gay men from The PRIDE Study recruited in 2018.

Results: We present mean scores and standard deviations for the EDE-Q among cisgender gay men ages 18-82. Among cisgender gay men, 4.0% scored in the clinically significant range on the global score, 5.7% on the restraint, 2.1% on the eating concern, 10.5% on the weight concern, and 21.4% on the shape concern subscales of the EDE-Q. The global score as well as weight and shape concerns in a young adult subsample (18-26 years) from The PRIDE Study were higher than previously reported norms in young men (Lavender, 2010). Participants reported any occurrence (≥1/28 days) of dietary restraint (19.8%), objective binge episodes (10.9%), excessive exercise (10.1%), laxative misuse (1.1%), and self-induced vomiting (0.6%). Binge eating, excessive exercise, and self-induced vomiting in The PRIDE Study subsample were lower than previously reported in young men.

Discussion: We provide EDE-Q norms among cisgender gay men, which should aid clinicians and researchers to interpret the EDE-Q scores of cisgender gay men.

Keywords: body image; disordered eating; eating disorder; gay; homosexuality; norms; sexual minority.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Feeding and Eating Disorders / diagnosis*
Homosexuality, Male / psychology*
Homosexuality, Male / statistics & numerical data
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Reference Values
Surveys and Questionnaires*
Young Adult

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding