LGBTQ+ outpatients present to eating disorder treatment earlier and with more severe depressive symptoms than cisgender heterosexual peers.

Abstract

Community evidence indicates high eating disorder (ED) and comorbid symptom severity among LGBTQ+ compared to cisgender heterosexual (CH) individuals. Little is known about such disparities in ED treatment samples, especially in outpatient treatment. We aimed to descriptively characterize and investigate baseline group differences in symptom severity between LGBTQ+ and CH ED outpatients at treatment intake. Data from 60 (22.3%) LGBTQ+ and 209 (77.7%) CH ED outpatients were used to examine: (1) demographic and diagnostic differences; (2) differences in ED, depressive, and emotion dysregulation symptoms. Objectives were tested using Fisher-Freeman-Halton exact and independent samples t-tests, and analyses of covariance adjusted for age and diagnosis, respectively. Most LGBTQ+ outpatients were bisexual (55.2%), and 6.5% identified as transgender and non-binary. LGBTQ+ outpatients presented to treatment at younger ages (Mean Difference [MD] = -3.39, p = .016) and reported more severe depressive symptoms (MD = 5.73, p = .004) than CH patients, but endorsed similar ED symptom and emotion dysregulation severity. Groups did not differ in other demographic or diagnostic characteristics. LGBTQ+ individuals may develop more severe depression and similarly severe EDs at earlier ages but seek outpatient care sooner than CH peers. Managing depressive symptoms may be particularly important for LGBTQ+ ED patients.