Sexual Orientation and Eating Disorders

from the
THE HARVARD COLLEGE
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROGRAMS NEWSLETTER
November 1999

Eating disorders and their consequences are featured prominently in today's society and these diseases are especially widespread on college campuses. One can rarely pass a newsstand without being struck by images of too-thin young women or the magazine articles that criticize them. In a world that impresses upon women inconsistent ideals of beauty, men who suffer from these diseases are often left out of the equation. It is this silent group upon which Christopher Russell's ('00) summer research focused.

Chris, a psychology concentrator originally from North Hollywood, California, became intrigued by this topic during his Abnormal Psychology class.

"The professor just mentioned off-handedly that these disorders affected homosexual males and athletes. That really sparked the research interest for me." Chris then decided to begin an independent research project with Psychology Professor Pamela Keel. A Harvard graduate herself, Prof. Keel’s guidance in the project helped to maintain Chris’ interest. "Prof. Keels’ door has always been open. She has always been available to answer my questions and help guide me."

While that independent research project had both homosexual males and athletes as its focus, Chris decided to narrow in on sexual orientation for his senior thesis. "It is not that surprising to find out that athletes often have pressures that result in eating disorders, but the reasons behind why homosexuals have a higher instance of these diseases has never been fully explored."

After initial research on eating disorders, Chris found that men comprised 10-15% of all eating disorder sufferers. While these findings were readily accessible, Chris encountered a dearth of information on this comparatively voiceless group.

Under the supervision of his faculty sponsor, Chris discovered that males and females demonstrate similar etiological factors and characteristics of the disorders. Indeed, both depression and low self-esteem are strongly correlated with eating pathology in both men and women. Upon further investigation, Chris found that homosexuality appears to be a potential risk factor for eating disorders that is unique for males.

These findings led Chris to question the underpinnings of why homosexual men may have a higher occurrence of eating disorders than heterosexual males. Initially, Chris questioned the possibility that higher levels of femininity lead to increased levels of body dissatisfaction. "Obviously, there is a real emphasis on body image for those who suffer from eating disorders." Chris speculated that there may be a greater emphasis on body image in general in the homosexual community, thus resulting in higher risk for the disorders. It was a real "which came first?" question.

Ultimately, Chris decided he wanted to establish whether it is sexual orientation that is a risk factor or if the social stigmatization of homosexuals is the ultimate cause of these disorders. "Homosexual males may show higher levels of eating pathology because social stigmatization of their sexual orientation increases their risk for depression and poor self-esteem."

With financial support from the Harvard College Research Program, Chris was able to spend the summer before his senior year in Cambridge running experiments in order to answer the question "Is homosexuality a specific risk factor for eating disorders in males?"

These experiments consisted of selecting 130 males (ages 15-50) from a sample of metropolitan Boston residents. The men were then divided into two equal groups of 65 heterosexual and 65 homosexual men. Each group was then administered a series of five studies: the Beck Depression Inventory, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Eating Attitude Test, the Body Shape Questionnaire, and the Bulimia Test-Revised.

Chris predicted that the results of these studies would show that (1) homosexual males would report higher levels of eating pathology compared to heterosexual males and (2) possibly after controlling for depression and self-esteem, homosexual males would continue to show significantly increased levels of eating pathology compared to heterosexual males.

Since Chris spent the summer setting up and running the experiments, he is spending this semester analyzing the data he gathered. "Right now I don't have a conclusion," but he notes the experiments went well and feels that the results will provide a definite conclusion. Chris now plans to spend his time writing his thesis and with additional funding from the Harvard College Research Program this semester, Chris will interview more subjects. He is also hopeful that his work will be published in a peer-reviewed psychology journal. Chris plans to spend the next few years working and then will apply for medical school.