Associations between sexual minority and intraminority stressors and thinness- and muscularity-oriented eating and body image disturbances in sexual minoritized men: Variable-centered, person-centered, and network analyses

Sexual minoritized men (SMM) exhibit high rates of thinness- and muscularity-oriented eating and body image disturbances, possibly due to sexual minority and intraminority stressors. Yet, existing research has largely employed variable-centered methods (e.g., correlation- and regression-based analyses), which limit understanding of within-group heterogeneity and symptom-to-symptom connections. We applied a three-prong analytical approach (variable-centered, person-centered, and network analyses) to examine relations among sexual minority and intraminority stressors and eating and body image disturbances among SMM (N = 255; M_age = 25.79). Variable-centered analyses revealed that, after adjusting for covariates and other stressors, internalized heterosexism, heterosexist discrimination, and intraminority body stigma were uniquely and positively associated with both thinness- and muscularity-oriented disordered eating. Intraminority body stigma was uniquely associated with more thinness- and muscularity-oriented body image disturbances, and internalized heterosexism was a unique, positive correlate of muscularity-oriented body image disturbances. Person-centered analysis revealed three profiles: Low Sexual Minority & Intraminority Stress (70%, n = 157), High Sexual Orientation Concealment Only (15%, n = 34), and High Heterosexist Discrimination & Intraminority Stress (15%, n = 34). Participants in the latter profile reported significantly more thinness- and muscularity-oriented eating and body image disturbances relative to participants in the other two profiles. Network analyses identified thinness-oriented body image disturbances and intraminority body stigma as highly central nodes. Our findings support the role of distal and proximal minority stressors in eating and body image disturbances among SMM. They also implicate several key processes in these relationships (i.e., heterosexist discrimination, intraminority body stigma, sexual orientation concealment), suggesting potential utility in considering various types of sexual minority and intraminority stressors in clinical and prevention efforts with SMM. Level of evidence: This study is based on a cross-sectional design and is classified as level of evidence 4.