Body image distress and disordered eating among gay and straight men from Greece and Cyprus.

Abstract

Sociocultural factors play a significant role in the development of body image distress and disordered eating behavior in diverse populations, including men. One group which seems to be at increased risk, is sexual minority men. However, these factors have rarely been studied outside of Western populations. The present study sought to explore these factors in Greek and Greek-Cypriot men. Greek and Greek-Cypriot men (N = 367; n = 162 gay; n = 205 straight) completed measures of sociocultural pressures, appearance comparisons, body dissatisfaction, body appreciation and disordered eating. Results indicated that gay men were more likely to have disordered eating habits than straight men. Additionally, gay men had significantly lower scores on measures of body-image related wellbeing (i.e. satisfaction and appreciation), and higher on measures of societal pressures and appearance-related comparisons, appearance-related anxiety and disordered eating. Greek and Greek-Cypriot gay men had lower levels of muscularity internalization than straight men. Our findings extend research on body image distress and disordered eating in gay and straight men to Greek and Greek-Cypriot populations.