Abstract
PurposeCisgender bisexual plus (including bisexual, pansexual, and polysexual) women and men experience unique health concerns including eating disorders. The purpose of this study was to develop community norms for eating disorder attitudes and disordered eating behaviors in cisgender bisexual plus women and men using the Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q).MethodsParticipants were cisgender bisexual plus women (n = 462) and men (n = 93) participants in The PRIDE Study, an existing study of sexual and gender minority people.ResultsMean and standard deviation of EDE-Q scores among cisgender bisexual plus women and men, respectively, were: Global (1.75 ± 1.26, 1.56 ± 1.18), Restraint (1.34 ± 1.44, 1.42 ± 1.53), Eating Concern (0.96 ± 1.13, 0.63 ± 0.96), Weight Concern 2.27 ± 1.55, 1.89 ± 1.46), and Shape Concern 42 ± 1.62, 2.30 ± 1.57). Among cisgender bisexual plus women and men, respectively, 27.5% and 22.6% scored in the clinically significant range on the Global score. Bisexual plus women and men reported any occurrence (≥ 1/28 days) of dietary restraint (19.3%, 23.7%), objective binge episodes (11.1%, 10.8%), excessive exercise (4.5%, 5.4%), self-induced vomiting (1.7%, 0.0%), and laxative misuse (0.4%, 1.1%), respectively. A lower percentage of age-matched cisgender bisexual plus women (18–25 years) reported any occurrence of objective binge episodes, self-induced vomiting, laxative misuse, and excessive exercise than previously published in young women. Age-matched cisgender bisexual plus men (18–26 years) reported higher weight concern subscale scores than previously published in young men.ConclusionsThese norms should aid clinicians in applying and interpreting the EDE-Q scores of cisgender bisexual plus women and men.Level of evidenceLevel V: cross-sectional descriptive study
Highlights
Cisgender bisexual women and men experience unique health disparities in physical, mental, and sexual health outcomes [1]
This study aims to (1) develop community norms for eating disorder attitudes and disordered eating behaviors using the Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) among cisgender bisexual plus women and men, (2) compare community norms of the EDE-Q among cisgender bisexual plus women with those previously published in presumed cisgender heterosexual young women [16], and (3) compare community norms of the EDE-Q among cisgender bisexual plus men with those previously published in presumed cisgender heterosexual young men [15]
A total of 462 cisgender bisexual plus women participated in this study (Table 1)
Summary
Cisgender (i.e., those whose gender identity matches what is commonly associated with the sex assigned to them at birth) bisexual women and men experience unique health disparities in physical, mental, and sexual health outcomes [1]. One study found that bisexual women typically engage in more body checking (e.g., an individual’s tendency to repeatedly check their weight and shape through ritualistic weighing, compulsive mirror checking, and using the fit of clothes to judge weight changes) than heterosexual women [8]. Despite this group difference in body image observations, Henn et al [8] reported no accordant evidence of a different likelihood or vulnerability to body image disturbances and eating disordered behaviors based on sexual orientation [8]. In another study, 10.6% of bisexual women reported both subjective binge eating and compensatory behavior compared to only 2.8% of lesbian women [9]
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