School of Public Health, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Eat Disord. 2021 Jan-Feb;29(1):29-41. doi: 10.1080/10640266.2019.1613846. Epub 2019 May 11.
Due to stigma, eating disorders are under-researched, underdiagnosed and undertreated among men. This is particularly pertinent among athletes, as athletic goals are a major risk factor for disordered eating in men. This gender stereotype may be reinforced by eating disorder risk assessment tools that better reflect female symptoms. We examine an eating disorder risk assessment questionnaire in a population of athletes to assess both (1) gender bias in individual items and (2) gender differences on a cognitive and behavioral subscale, identified through a factor analysis. Controlling for eating disorder risk, we found that female gender significantly predicted high risk scores on four items; male gender significantly predicted high risk scores on four other items. We also found that women were more likely to score above the median on a cognitive subscale than men with the same level of eating disorder risk, while men were more likely to score above the median on a behavioral subscale. These results may be applied practically to allow eating disorder risk assessment tools to better capture eating disorder risk independent of gender. These methods may be applied to other questionnaires and other social identities, to expand the scope of eating disorder research and treatment.
由于耻辱感，男性的饮食失调症在研究、诊断和治疗方面都严重不足。对于运动员来说，这一点尤其明显，因为运动目标是男性饮食失调的主要风险因素。这种性别刻板印象可能会被更能反映女性症状的饮食失调风险评估工具所强化。我们在运动员群体中检查了一种饮食失调风险评估问卷，以评估（1）个体项目中的性别偏见，以及（2）通过因子分析确定的认知和行为子量表上的性别差异。在控制饮食失调风险的情况下，我们发现女性性别显著预测了四项高风险项目；男性性别显著预测了另外四项高风险项目。我们还发现，在具有相同饮食失调风险水平的情况下，女性在认知子量表上的得分高于中位数的可能性高于男性，而男性在行为子量表上的得分高于中位数的可能性高于女性。这些结果在实践中可以应用，以使饮食失调风险评估工具能够更好地独立于性别捕捉饮食失调风险。这些方法可以应用于其他问卷和其他社会身份，以扩大饮食失调研究和治疗的范围。
