Determinants of body image disturbance and disordered eating behaviors among self-identified LGBTQ individuals

Plain English SummarySexual minorities are individuals who are more likely to experience mental health illnesses due to their increased experiences of social stresses, such as stigma, discrimination, prejudice, and fear of rejection. Two of the common mental health illnesses lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals develop are eating disorders and disturbed body image. Eating disorders and body image concerns are serious mental health illnesses with the likelihood of progressing into life-threatening conditions. Behavioral characteristics of eating disorders can be seen as binge eating episodes, extreme dieting, and inappropriate compensatory behaviors such as fasting, self-induced vomiting, excessive exercise, laxative or diuretic misuse, and or misuse of other "weight loss/diet" pills. Disordered eating patterns and body image concerns are multifactorial and complex, involving a wide range of psychological, sociocultural, and biological determinants. The current study is one of the few observational studies that tackle sexual minority health related issues, specifically investigate the presence and determinants of body image disturbances and disordered eating behaviors in gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals compared to heterosexual and/or cis-gender population in Lebanon. The study findings suggest a potential higher risk of disorder eating behaviors and body image disturbances among sexual and gender minorities. It has been previously established that sexual minorities are more likely to suffer from mental health illnesses due to experiencing unique stressors such as fear, anxiety, stigma, harassment, and prejudice. Results revealed two noteworthy mental health disorders reported by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals, disordered eating behaviors and disturbed body image. Yet, a-priori studies revealed inconsistent results with regards to body image concerns and eating disorder symptoms and attitudes among sexual minorities. Therefore, this cross-sectional study aimed at investigating the occurrence of disordered eating behaviors (DEB) and body image disturbance (BID) among sexual minorities in Lebanon. Additionally, the correlation between several determinants of DEB and BID including fear of negative evaluation, generalized anxiety, social support, and harassment levels have been examined. Generally, the present study revealed that LGBTQ population scored higher than cisgender and heterosexual individuals for the mean and global scores of the EDE-Q6.0 and BAS-2. Only generalized anxiety and fear of negative evaluation scales were significantly associated with DEB and BID among different sexual orientation and gender identity individuals. Therefore, it is very important that health professionals working with such vulnerable populations meticulously assess for disordered eating behaviors and body image disturbance for better communication and management.