(PS8-A17) Examining the Relation Between Negative Affect, Body Dissatisfaction, and Sexual Orientation in Men

Approximately one in seven men (14.3%) will experience an eating disorder (ED) by the age of forty. Men are traditionally underdiagnosed with EDs compared to women; however, men who identify as sexually diverse are more likely to have an ED compared to heterosexual males. While the relation between negative affect and EDs in women has been well-documented, research replicating this association in men is limited. The high mortality rate of EDs and the disproportionate rate of body image and negative affect concerns in sexual minority (SM) men presents an immediate need for further research on this topic. Thus, the current study examined the relationship between negative affect and body dissatisfaction in men across sexual orientation. Data were drawn from 163 young men who completed baseline assessments as part of two ED prevention trials (SM n = 79; non-SM n = 84). The racial breakdown of the sample was as follows: White (75.8%), Black (12.7%), Asian/Pacific Islander (4.8%), and Other (6.7%). Hierarchical linear regression analyses examined whether there was a significant interaction between sexual orientation and negative affect in cross-sectionally predicting body dissatisfaction, controlling for levels of body-ideal internalization. There was a significant interaction effect of sexual orientation and negative affect on body dissatisfaction (p = .007). At high levels of negative affect, there was no impact of sexual orientation on body dissatisfaction (p = .46), while at low levels, SM men had significantly higher levels of body dissatisfaction compared to heterosexual men (p < .001). When controlling for body-ideal internalization, the pattern still held at the level of significance (p = .05), demonstrating that at high levels of negative affect there was no significant impact of sexual orientation on body dissatisfaction (p = .99), but at low levels of negative affect, SM men had higher body dissatisfaction compared to non-SM men (p = 0.02). Results at low levels of negative affect are consistent with previous research supporting elevated body dissatisfaction in SM men; however, our findings suggest that high levels of negative affect may override association between sexual orientation and body dissatisfaction in men. This finding provides several directions for future research, including elucidating the directionality between negative affect and body image concerns in men, which may inform intervention targets that directly and indirectly improve negative affect and body image in men.