Body checking behaviors and eating disorder pathology among nonbinary individuals with androgynous appearance ideals
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Body checking behaviors and eating disorder pathology among nonbinary individuals with androgynous appearance ideals Claire E. Cusack1 · M. Paz Galupo1 Received: 22 June 2020 / Accepted: 29 September 2020 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Background Internalized sociocultural standards of attractiveness are a risk factor repeatedly linked to eating disorders; however, many nonbinary individuals do not conform to these standards. Purpose This study investigated the body checking behaviors and eating disorder pathology among nonbinary individuals with androgynous appearance ideals. Methods Participants (n = 194) completed an online survey assessing body checking behaviors, body appreciation, gender congruence, and eating disorder pathology Results Body checking predicted eating disorder pathology, and body image significantly improved the model. Gender congruence did not additional variance in predicting eating pathology Conclusion Though gender congruence was not a significant predictor of eating pathology, content analysis revealed unique body behaviors specific to nonbinary individuals’ gender identity and gender expression. Clinical implications include expanding perceptions of eating disorder presentation when working with nonbinary individuals with androgynous appearance ideals. Level of evidence Level V, cross-sectional descriptive study. Keywords Androgyny · Body checking · Eating disorder · Gender congruence · Mixed method · Nonbinary
Introduction The purpose of the current study is to investigate body checking behaviors and the relationship between body checking behaviors and eating disorder pathology in nonbinary individuals. Cisgender refers to an individual who feels as though their gender identity aligns with their sex assigned at birth. Nonbinary is a heterogenous gender identity in which an individual may identify with male and female, neither male or female, or outside of the gender binary [1]. While research on disordered eating, body image, and body checking behaviors has largely been conducted with cisgender heterosexual samples [2], gender minorities The article is part of the Topical Collection on males and eating and weight disorders. * M. Paz Galupo [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology, Towson University, 8000 York Road, Towson, MD, USA
are at increased risk for eating and body image concerns as compared to cisgender individuals [2, 3]. Sociocultural standards of attractiveness have been consistently found as a risk factor for disordered eating and body image concerns [4]. These norms center cisgender heterosexual women, and the same standards have been imposed on gender minorities. However, because gender minorities do not adhere to the same standards [5–7], this bias has serious diagnostic and treatment implications. The traditional design in studying behaviors in marginalized populations compares individuals to a “normative sample;” this approach fails to capture the heterogeneity of body image concerns expressed within individuals who
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