With age comes responsibility: changes in stigma for boys/men with bulimia nervosa
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
With age comes responsibility: changes in stigma for boys/men with bulimia nervosa Allison A. Vaughn1 · Joshua D. Lowe1 Received: 11 June 2019 / Accepted: 21 September 2019 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
Abstract Purpose Bulimia nervosa has a strong developmental component and affects men and women. However, the risk in men is unique in that it often includes other comorbid mental illnesses (depression, substance use) and may be exacerbated by longer delays between diagnoses and treatment relative to women. Furthermore, men may not be getting the treatment needed to successfully cope. Attribution theory was used as a theoretical lens to examine stigma towards boys/men with bulimia nervosa. The goal of the current study was to investigate this stigma across a developmental trajectory (from ages 12 to 24) to explore if/when stigma onset (causal responsibility) and stigma offset (coping responsibility) move between a parent and child. Methods Undergraduate students (n = 360) were randomly assigned to read a vignette describing a boy/man of varying ages (12, 15, 18, 21, and 24) with bulimia nervosa and then complete stigma ratings for both the boy/man as well as his mother and father. Results As hypothesized, the younger boy was rated as less responsible for onset and less to blame relative to the older man. Contrary to hypotheses, ratings of parents did not show any age-related differences in stigma. Also as hypothesized, mothers were rated as more responsible for onset and offset relative to fathers. Conclusions Findings highlight the developmental component of the stigma as it pertains to the boy/man but suggest the associative stigma for the parents might not change over time, suggesting multiple avenues for research and stigma reduction efforts as they apply to boys/men. Level of evidence Level I: Evidence obtained from: at least one properly designed randomized controlled trials; systematic reviews and meta-analyses; experimental studies. Keywords Attribution theory · Bulimia nervosa · Boys/men · Stigma onset · Stigma offset
Introduction It is estimated that more than 30 million people in the United States suffer from some sort of eating disorder [1]. These include (but are not limited to) anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. There seems to be a This research was supported by the San Diego State University’s Summer Undergraduate Research Program, awarded to Allison A. Vaughn for the training of Joshua D. Lowe. This article is part of topical collection on Males and Eating and Weight Disorders. * Allison A. Vaughn [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182‑4611, USA
common misconception that eating disorders only affect women. Although they disproportionately affect women, it is estimated that many men will also be affected by an eating disorder at some point in their life. Lifetime prevalence rates for men and women were 0.5% and 1.5%, respectively [1]. A more recent review of t
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