(PS6-A10) Are Eating Disorder Pathology and Risky Sexual Behavior Related? The Associations between Gender, Eating Pathology and Risky Sexual Behavior

Prior work has identified a constellation of risky health behaviors that frequently co-occur. Specifically, disordered eating, substance use and risky sexual behavior show positive associations. Although risky sexual behavior is a broad concept, we focused on risk-mitigation and safe sex practices. The purpose of the study was to examine the association between disordered eating and safe-sex practices in a college population. This study included 200 Midwestern college students (63% female; 73.5% White; M age = 20.34) and was part of a larger project investigating the relations between disordered eating behavior, alcohol use patterns and drunkorexia. Eating pathology was assessed with the EDE-Q (Fairburn & Beglin, 2008), which captures four distinct facets of disordered eating: restraint; eating concern; shape concern; and weight concern. It was hypothesized that differential relations with safe-sex practices would emerge for each aspect and that restrictive eating behavior would show a strong positive relation with safe sex practices as both restraint and safe sex practices require discipline and control. Second, it was hypothesized that all relations would be stronger in women than in men. Results indicated that the hypothesized relation between eating restraint and safe-sex practices was not supported as no significant association emerged for the overall sample (r = .090), among women (r = .063) or among men (r = -.036). Similarly, no associations emerged between the weight concerns subscale and safe-sex practices. However, the eating concerns subscale was significantly related to lower engagement in safe sex practices in the full sample (r =.250, p =.01) and among women (r = .222, p =.029) but not among men (r = .046). The shape concerns subscale was also significantly related to riskier sexual behavior in the whole sample (r =.175, p =.05); however, this pattern was not seen among women (r =.092) or men (r =.010) when examined alone. Of note, a significant relation between natal sex and safe sex practices emerged, with more men reporting safe-sex practices than women, X² (4, N = 194) = 17.173, p= .002. Although the underlying mechanisms for these results are unknown, future research could investigate if the associations between both eating and shape concerns and less use of safe-sex practices are related to impulsivity. Individuals who are worried about their shape and control over eating behavior may have depleted resources with regards to inhibition, leading to increased likelihood of impulsivity and engagement in risky sexual behavior. Additionally, the association between higher shape concerns and lower use of safe-sex practices may be related to higher body dissatisfaction resulting in lower self-confidence, which may reduce perceived ability to advocate for safe sex practices with a partner, resulting in riskier sexual behavior. Further research should be conducted to examine such nuances.