(PS8-A18) Racial Differences in Body Image and Eating Disorder Symptoms in Young Men

Body image and eating disorders (EDs) represent a significant public health problem; yet, only 1% of research focuses explicitly on male ED presentations—even less research exists on how symptoms may differ in men across racial backgrounds. Indeed, evidence suggests race and sociocultural differences impact body image concerns, a robust predictor of EDs. Research supports that men from a range of ethnic and racial groups engage in more extreme body change strategies and binge eating than white men; however, no consistent pattern was found to summarize body image concerns across groups. Further, previous research has largely examined racial categories that do not include biracial men. As ED research in racially diverse men is still in its infancy, the current study aimed to examine whether there are differences in body image concerns in young men from diverse racial background. Data were drawn from 165 young men who completed baseline assessments as part of two ED prevention trials. The racial breakdown of the sample was as follows: White (75.8%), Black (12.7%), Asian/Pacific Islander (4.8%), and Other (biracial; 6.7%). Analysis of variance compared racial groups on body-ideal internalization (SATAQ-3), eating pathology (EDE-Q), body fat and muscularity dissatisfaction (MBAS), and drive for muscularity (DMS) scores. No significant differences were found between racial groups in terms of SATAQ , EDE-Q, or MBAS scores (p-values > 0.30). However, significant inter-group differences were identified for DMS scores. Post-hoc analysis indicated that men that identified as biracial reported higher DMS scores compared to White (p=.03) and Black (p=.002) men, and Asian/Pacific Islander-identifying men reported higher DMS scores compared to Black men (p=.046). While results did not support significant differences across racial groups in terms of body-ideal internalization, eating pathology, and body fat/muscularity dissatisfaction, differences were found across racial groups regarding drive for muscularity. Our preliminary findings suggest that racial background may be salient for male specific body image concerns and reinforce the importance of exploring muscularity concerns in Asian American and biracial men in future research to develop more effective body image interventions. However, given the small sample size, these findings should be interpreted as preliminary and future research with larger and more diverse populations represented are needed to confirm these findings.