TY - JOUR
T1 - Body Dissatisfaction in a Diverse Sample of Young Men Who Have Sex With Men
T2 - The P18 Cohort Study
AU - Siconolfi, Daniel E.
AU - Kapadia, Farzana
AU - Moeller, Robert W.
AU - Eddy, Jessica A.
AU - Kupprat, Sandra A.
AU - Kingdon, Molly J.
AU - Halkitis, Perry N.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors wish to thank Cui Yang for reviewing an early draft of this article. We also thank the study participants of Project 18. The project was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) (R01DA025537). The content does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of NIDA or the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
PY - 2016/7/1
Y1 - 2016/7/1
N2 - Young men who have sex with men (YMSM) may be at greater risk for body dissatisfaction, compared to their heterosexual peers. However, differences within YMSM populations are understudied, precluding the identification of YMSM who are at greatest risk. This study examined body dissatisfaction in a racially/ethnically diverse sample of YMSM ages 18–19 in New York City. Using cross-sectional data from the baseline visit of a longitudinal cohort study of YMSM (N = 591), body dissatisfaction was assessed using the Male Body Attitudes Scale. Three outcomes were modeled using linear regression: (1) overall body dissatisfaction, (2) muscularity dissatisfaction, and (3) body fat dissatisfaction. Covariates in the models included race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, BMI, gay community affiliation, and internalized homonegativity. White YMSM experienced greater body dissatisfaction across the three models. Internalized homonegativity was a statistically significant predictor of dissatisfaction across the three models, though its association with body dissatisfaction was relatively small. The findings point to future avenues of research, particularly qualitative research to explore demographic and cultural nuances in body attitudes among YMSM.
AB - Young men who have sex with men (YMSM) may be at greater risk for body dissatisfaction, compared to their heterosexual peers. However, differences within YMSM populations are understudied, precluding the identification of YMSM who are at greatest risk. This study examined body dissatisfaction in a racially/ethnically diverse sample of YMSM ages 18–19 in New York City. Using cross-sectional data from the baseline visit of a longitudinal cohort study of YMSM (N = 591), body dissatisfaction was assessed using the Male Body Attitudes Scale. Three outcomes were modeled using linear regression: (1) overall body dissatisfaction, (2) muscularity dissatisfaction, and (3) body fat dissatisfaction. Covariates in the models included race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, BMI, gay community affiliation, and internalized homonegativity. White YMSM experienced greater body dissatisfaction across the three models. Internalized homonegativity was a statistically significant predictor of dissatisfaction across the three models, though its association with body dissatisfaction was relatively small. The findings point to future avenues of research, particularly qualitative research to explore demographic and cultural nuances in body attitudes among YMSM.
KW - Bisexual
KW - Body dissatisfaction
KW - Body image
KW - Gay
KW - Internalized homonegativity
KW - MSM
KW - Sexual orientation
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U2 - 10.1007/s10508-015-0592-3
DO - 10.1007/s10508-015-0592-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 26370403
AN - SCOPUS:84941702795
SN - 0004-0002
VL - 45
SP - 1227
EP - 1239
JO - Archives of Sexual Behavior
JF - Archives of Sexual Behavior
IS - 5
ER -