The Role of Gender Affirmation in Eating Disorder Symptoms in Transgender Individuals

Abstract

Research in the field of eating disorders has grown rapidly since the introduction of eating disorders in the DSM. In particular, research suggests that transgender individuals could be more likely to develop an eating disorder than cisgender individuals. It has previously been believed that the disorder "gender dysphoria" plays a role in the development of eating disorders in transgender individuals. This literature review draws from prior studies of groups and individuals in order to better understand how gender affirming interventions impact eating disorders within the transgender population. The interventions examined include both interventions based in hormones and interventions based in surgical reconfiguration in order to answer the question "do gender affirming interventions influence the prevalence of eating disorder symptoms in the transgender population?". The answer to this question as reflected in the research is that gender-affirming interventions do not directly reduce eating disorder symptoms. However, the positive impacts of gender-affirming interventions appear to indirectly reduce symptoms through improving bodily satisfaction and reducing the number of non-affirming experiences that someone has.