4 - (SYM 128) Pressure from Within: Gay Community Stress and Body Dissatisfaction Among Sexual Minority Men

Sexual minority (e.g., gay and bisexual) men are at elevated risk of body dissatisfaction, a primary symptom of body image and eating disorders, compared to heterosexual men. Although gay community stress—defined as stress derived from perceptions of the mainstream gay community’s masculine, status-related demands—has been theorized to affect sexual minority men’s body dissatisfaction, this association has not been evaluated in quantitative studies. The present study examined this relationship in two distinct samples of sexual minority men. In two samples of sexual minority men – one sample recruited from a population-based study of U.S. adults (N = 424; M_age = 54.29; Study 1), the other a sample meeting diagnostic criteria for depressive, anxiety, or trauma-/stressor-related disorders (N = 251; M_age = 26.52; Study 2) – this study investigated associations between gay community stress and body dissatisfaction over-and-above well-established associations between traditional heterosexist minority stressors (i.e., rejection sensitivity, internalized stigma, identity concealment, and sexual orientation-based discrimination) and body dissatisfaction. In both samples, gay community stress was significantly associated with body dissatisfaction (Study 1: b = 0.14, 95% CI [0.01, 0.27]; Study 2: b = 0.28, 95% CI [0.15, 0.42]) in models that controlled for demographic and minority stress variables. Regarding specific facets of gay community stress, perceptions of the gay community’s focus on sex, social status, and social competition were each significant correlates of body dissatisfaction, whereas perceptions of the gay community’s exclusion of diversity were not. Gay community stress represents a robust correlate of sexual minority men’s body dissatisfaction. Future research is needed to determine the clinical impact of routinely addressing gay community stress in body image and eating disorder treatments for this population. Findings also call for community-level interventions to reduce this source of stress uniquely affecting sexual minority men.