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Antibisexual Stigma and Sexual Objectification Prospectively Predict Disordered Eating among Bisexual Women

(PS1-B38) Antibisexual Stigma and Sexual Objectification Prospectively Predict Disordered Eating Among Bisexual Women

Friday, November 18, 2022

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM EST

Location: Westside Ballroom, 5th Floor

Author(s)

Selime R. Salim, M.A.

Doctoral Student
Miami University
Cincinnati, Ohio

Co-Author(s)

SO

Shelby N. Ortiz, M.A.

Clinical Psychology Graduate Student
Miami University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
AS

April Smith, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Auburn University
Auburn, Alabama
TM

Terri Messman, Ph.D.

Professor
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio

Disordered eating (e.g., dietary restriction, binge eating, purging, laxative misuse) has significant negative physical and mental health consequences (Westmoreland et al., 2016). Research indicates that bisexual women have greater rates of disordered eating compared to heterosexual and lesbian women (Shearer et al., 2015; Simone et al., 2020). Consistent with sexual objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997), sexual objectification (e.g., catcalling, sexual harassment) is related to disordered eating among bisexual women in part via body surveillance (i.e., habitual inspection of one’s body; Brewster et al., 2014). Bisexual women also experience unique forms of antibisexual stigma within both heterosexual and lesbian/gay communities that may also relate to increased disordered eating among bisexual women (Watson et al., 2016). Bisexual women may be at increased risk for disordered eating as they experience additional forms of objectification due to specific hypersexuality stereotypes about bisexual women (Flanders et al., 2016). We aimed to extend previous research by testing longitudinal effects of antibisexual stigma and sexual objectification (at baseline) on disordered eating (at 6-month follow up) via bisexual identity concealment and body surveillance (at 3-month follow up). The sample consisted of 415 young (ages 18-35) bisexual women, recruited via MTurk with M_age=25.7 and 82.7% identifying as White. We tested the model using path analysis in Mplus. Model fit was good: χ²(2) = 23.32, p = 0.31; CFI = .99; TLI = .96; RMSEA = .02; SRMR = 0.2. We did not find support for a serial indirect effect. Instead, antibisexual stigma predicted disordered eating at 6-month follow up (b = 1.44, S.E. = 0.46, p < .01), whereas body surveillance at 3-month follow up mediated the link between sexual objectification and disordered eating (b = 0.53, S.E. = 0.22, p < .05). Results highlighted two distinct pathways predicting increased disordered eating among bisexual women: one pathway was from sexual objectification while the other pathway was from antibisexual stigma, an experience that is unique to bisexual women. Thus, in eating disorder treatment, it appears important to address both experiences of sexual objectification that most women encounter and experiences unique to bisexual women. Cognitive-behavioral approaches may be enhanced by explicitly addressing antibisexual stigma and adopting a stance that is affirmative of bisexuality (Israel et al., 2019). Clinicians may consider using DBT skills to help bisexual clients manage experiences of sexual minority stress (Cohen et al., 2020). In addition, our findings indicated that sexual objectification and body surveillance prospectively predict disordered eating and confirm that body surveillance may be an important treatment target also relevant among bisexual women. Given additional forms of objectification among bisexual women (Serpe et al., 2020), future research may examine whether the effects of sexual objectification on disordered eating are stronger for bisexual women compared to other women.