Body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in gay Australian men: exploring social support and self-compassion as protective factors

Abstract

Gay men report higher levels of body dissatisfaction than heterosexual men, which is positively associated with clinical and sub-clinical disordered eating. Given this, it remains important to explore potential protective factors that could be leveraged for interventions specifically designed for gay men. The present study investigated whether self-compassion and social support, both found in previous studies to buffer against minority stress, may moderate the relationship between body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in gay men. Results from an online survey of 100 gay Australian men found that, as expected, body dissatisfaction was positively associated with disordered eating. Moreover, it was found that social support moderated this relationship such that the association between body dissatisfaction and disordered eating was stronger at lower levels of social support. Contrary to expectations, self-compassion did not moderate the body dissatisfaction-disordered eating relationship. Findings suggest that intervention at the level of social support may provide a pathway through which to assist gay men in reducing symptoms of disordered eating. Future studies could more closely examine the type of social support that best mitigates disordered eating symptomatology in gay men, as well as the impact of interventions designed to increase social support in this vulnerable group.