Differences in Eating and Body Image Disturbances and Sociocultural Stressors in Sexual Minoritized Men by Sexual Self-Labels Submit to Discover Mental Health

Differences in Eating and Body Image Disturbances and Sociocultural Stressors in Sexual Minoritized Men by Sexual Self-Labels Submit to Discover Mental Health | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Differences in Eating and Body Image Disturbances and Sociocultural Stressors in Sexual Minoritized Men by Sexual Self-Labels Submit to Discover Mental Health Kathryn Pasquariello, Vivian A. Lee, Benjamin F. Shepherd, Alexa Summersill, and 7 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9216955/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Sexual minoritized men (SMM) experience disproportionate rates of eating and body image disturbances relative to their heterosexual counterparts due, in part, to exposure to sociocultural pressures (e.g., community-specific body ideals, minority stress). Research often represents SMM as a monolith, precluding an understanding of within-group heterogeneity. There is a lack of research examining differences between SMM based on intimate partner preferences or sexual self-labels, including “top,” “bottom,” and “versatile.” The present study examined how thinness-and muscularity-oriented eating and body image disturbances and sociocultural variables (i.e., sexual minority and intracommunity stressors, tripartite influence model variables) differ across sexual self-label subgroups, including those not identifying with any label. Participants were SMM between the ages of 18 and 30 (N=375; tops, n=104, bottoms, n=60, versatiles, n=175, no self-label, n=36) recruited via Prolific. Results indicated significant group differences in muscularity-oriented eating and body image disturbances, thin internalization, internalized heterosexism, and body stigma intracommunity stress. Versatiles reported greater muscularity-oriented disordered eating than non-self-labels. Bottoms reported greater muscularity-oriented body dissatisfaction than tops, versatiles, and non-self-labels. Bottoms also reported greater thin internalization than tops. Individuals not identifying with any sexual self-label reported greater internalized heterosexism than versatiles and greater body stigma intracommunity stress than all other groups. Findings highlight the role of sexual self-labels in explaining meaningful heterogeneity in eating and body image disturbances and sociocultural stressors among SMM. Future research should replicate and extend our analyses to elucidate the temporal pathways underlying these associations. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 05 May, 2026 Reviews received at journal 30 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 20 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 10 Apr, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 09 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 09 Apr, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 03 Apr, 2026 First submitted to journal 03 Apr, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9216955","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":623184085,"identity":"93c7b06f-0440-4b91-a399-340ae9e4f6e9","order_by":0,"name":"Kathryn Pasquariello","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Suffolk University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kathryn","middleName":"","lastName":"Pasquariello","suffix":""},{"id":623184088,"identity":"fa00b458-5110-46d4-86e8-c15a609c7f4e","order_by":1,"name":"Vivian A. 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