Department of Psychological Sciences, Auburn University, 226 Thach Hall, Auburn, AL 36849, USA.
Department of Clinical Psychology, Miami University, 90N Patterson Avenue, Oxford, OH 45056, USA.
Body Image. 2022 Mar;40:237-248. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.01.001. Epub 2022 Jan 20.
Muscle dysmorphia (MD) is a severe psychiatric illness; however, little is known regarding risk factors for MD development. Conformity to masculine norms may represent a risk factor for MD, but research has yet to establish temporal ordering for these relationships. Masculine discrepancy stress (distress at not amounting to masculine stereotypes) could represent a mechanism underlying these relationships. Therefore, the current study examined longitudinal relationships between conformity to masculine norms, masculine discrepancy stress, and MD symptoms. Participants were 272 men displaying elevated MD symptoms who completed self-report questionnaires at three timepoints. An autoregressive cross-lagged mediation model was specified to examine relationships between conformity to masculine norms and MD symptoms and test if masculine discrepancy stress mediated these relationships. Masculine discrepancy stress did not mediate relationships between masculine norms and MD symptoms. However, MD symptoms predicted increased masculine discrepancy stress, and conformity to masculine norms was related to MD symptoms. MD symptoms were both a predictor and outcome of masculine norms, and signs for relationships differed on the masculine norm endorsed. Conformity to masculine norms may represent a risk factor and outcome for MD symptoms. If clinicians provide clients with tools to reduce rigid adherence to masculine identities, this may prevent MD symptom development.
肌肉变形障碍（MD）是一种严重的精神疾病；然而，对于 MD 发展的风险因素知之甚少。符合男性规范可能代表 MD 的一个风险因素，但研究尚未确定这些关系的时间顺序。男性差异压力（不符合男性刻板印象的痛苦）可能是这些关系的一种潜在机制。因此，本研究考察了男性规范遵从、男性差异压力与 MD 症状之间的纵向关系。参与者为 272 名表现出 MD 症状升高的男性，他们在三个时间点完成了自我报告问卷。指定了自回归交叉滞后中介模型来检验男性规范与 MD 症状之间的关系，并检验男性差异压力是否在这些关系中起中介作用。男性差异压力并没有在男性规范和 MD 症状之间的关系中起中介作用。然而，MD 症状预测了男性差异压力的增加，而男性规范的遵从与 MD 症状有关。MD 症状既是男性规范的预测因子，也是其结果，并且关系的迹象在支持的男性规范上有所不同。符合男性规范可能是 MD 症状的一个风险因素和结果。如果临床医生为客户提供工具来减少对男性身份的刻板遵守，这可能有助于预防 MD 症状的发展。
