Community norms for the eating disorder examination questionnaire (EDE-Q) among cisgender bisexual plus women and men

• Published in: Eating and weight disorders Vol. 26; no. 7; pp. 2227 - 2239
• Main Authors: Nagata, Jason M., Compte, Emilio J., Murray, Stuart B., Schauer, Rebecca, Pak, Erica, Flentje, Annesa, Capriotti, Matthew R., Lubensky, Micah E., Lunn, Mitchell R., Obedin-Maliver, Juno
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.10.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Attitude; Cisgender; Clinical significance; Cross-Sectional Studies; Eating disorders; Feeding and Eating Disorders - diagnosis; Female; Humans; Laxatives; Male; Males and Eating and Weight disorders; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original; Original Article; Psychiatry; Questionnaires; Sexual and Gender Minorities; Surveys and Questionnaires; Women; Young Adult; Young adults; Norms; Bisexual; Cisgender; Sexual minorities; Eating disorder
• ISSN: 1590-1262; 1124-4909; 1590-1262
• DOI: 10.1007/s40519-020-01070-8

Purpose Cisgender bisexual plus (including bisexual, pansexual, and polysexual) women and men experience unique health concerns including eating disorders. The purpose of this study was to develop community norms for eating disorder attitudes and disordered eating behaviors in cisgender bisexual plus women and men using the Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q). Methods Participants were cisgender bisexual plus women ( n  = 462) and men ( n  = 93) participants in The PRIDE Study, an existing study of sexual and gender minority people. Results Mean and standard deviation of EDE-Q scores among cisgender bisexual plus women and men, respectively, were: Global (1.75 ± 1.26, 1.56 ± 1.18), Restraint (1.34 ± 1.44, 1.42 ± 1.53), Eating Concern (0.96 ± 1.13, 0.63 ± 0.96), Weight Concern 2.27 ± 1.55, 1.89 ± 1.46), and Shape Concern 42 ± 1.62, 2.30 ± 1.57). Among cisgender bisexual plus women and men, respectively, 27.5% and 22.6% scored in the clinically significant range on the Global score. Bisexual plus women and men reported any occurrence (≥ 1/28 days) of dietary restraint (19.3%, 23.7%), objective binge episodes (11.1%, 10.8%), excessive exercise (4.5%, 5.4%), self-induced vomiting (1.7%, 0.0%), and laxative misuse (0.4%, 1.1%), respectively. A lower percentage of age-matched cisgender bisexual plus women (18–25 years) reported any occurrence of objective binge episodes, self-induced vomiting, laxative misuse, and excessive exercise than previously published in young women. Age-matched cisgender bisexual plus men (18–26 years) reported higher weight concern subscale scores than previously published in young men. Conclusions These norms should aid clinicians in applying and interpreting the EDE-Q scores of cisgender bisexual plus women and men. Level of evidence Level V: cross-sectional descriptive study