Hosking Warwick, Lyons Anthony, van der Rest Brittany
Psychology Discipline, College of Arts, Victoria University, P.O. Box 14428, Melbourne, VIC, 8001, Australia.
Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
Arch Sex Behav. 2017 Jul;46(5):1453-1464. doi: 10.1007/s10508-016-0791-6. Epub 2016 Aug 1.
Previous studies have identified gay men as a high-risk population for body image disturbances. However, little research has examined the mental health impact of gay men's physical appearance concerns in the context of other major life domains. The present study addressed this gap by investigating how mental health outcomes (satisfaction with life, self-esteem, positive well-being, and psychological distress) were associated with satisfaction with and importance of physical appearance, work, family relationships, friendships, health and fitness, and sex life among Australian gay men aged 18-39. The possible moderating role of intimate relationship status was also examined. Results from an online survey revealed that greater satisfaction with physical appearance, work, family, and friendships all had similar positive associations with mental health. However, more importance placed on physical appearance was more consistently associated with poorer mental health compared with the subjective importance of other domains. Findings also indicated the associations between physical appearance satisfaction and life satisfaction, and between physical appearance importance and positive well-being, were weaker for those in relationships. Thus, physical appearance matters in gay men's lives, but was only one factor when considered in the broader context of other life areas that contributed to overall well-being. These findings suggest the need for a nuanced and contextualized understanding of how physical appearance concerns fit into gay men's lives.
以往的研究已将男同性恋者确定为身体意象障碍的高危人群。然而，很少有研究探讨在其他主要生活领域背景下，男同性恋者对自身外貌的担忧对其心理健康的影响。本研究通过调查18至39岁澳大利亚男同性恋者的心理健康结果（生活满意度、自尊、积极幸福感和心理困扰）如何与对外貌、工作、家庭关系、友谊、健康与健身以及性生活的满意度和重要性相关联，填补了这一空白。研究还考察了亲密关系状况可能起到的调节作用。一项在线调查的结果显示，对外貌、工作、家庭和友谊更高的满意度都与心理健康有着相似的积极关联。然而，相较于其他领域的主观重要性，更看重外貌与较差的心理健康更始终如一地相关联。研究结果还表明，对于处于恋爱关系中的人来说，外貌满意度与生活满意度之间的关联，以及外貌重要性与积极幸福感之间的关联较弱。因此，外貌在男同性恋者的生活中很重要，但在有助于整体幸福感的其他生活领域的更广泛背景下考虑时，它只是其中一个因素。这些发现表明，需要对外貌担忧如何融入男同性恋者的生活有细致入微且结合具体情境的理解。
