ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Eating Behavior
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1658324
Disordered Eating in Sexual and Gender Minority Adults: The Roles of Gender Variance, Appearance Anxiety, and Internalized Ideals
Provisionally accepted
- University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Introduction: Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals face elevated risks for disordered eating and body image disturbances, shaped by minority stress, internalized beauty norms, and gendered societal expectations. This study examined (1) whether SGM individuals in Romania report higher levels of disordered eating than cisgender heterosexuals, and (2) whether appearance-related anxiety and internalized beauty ideals mediate the relationship between gender identity/expression and disordered eating within the SGM group. Methods: A total of 270 Romanian adults (aged 18+), including 225 identifying as SGM, completed self-report measures of disordered eating, gender variance, femininity, appearance-related social anxiety, and thin-ideal internalization. Statistical analyses included Mann–Whitney U tests, bivariate correlations, and percentile bootstrap mediation models. Results: SGM participants reported significantly higher disordered eating symptoms than cisgender heterosexuals. In the SGM group, social appearance anxiety partially mediated the relationship between gender variance and disordered eating (β = 0.1036, p = .008), while gender variance showed a significant negative direct effect (β = –0.1465, p = .009). The indirect effect of femininity through thin-ideal internalization was marginal (β = 0.0852, p = .051). Both appearance-related anxiety (β = 0.5715, p < .001) and thin-ideal internalization (β = 0.6549, p < .001) were robust predictors of disordered eating. Discussion: Findings underscore the heightened vulnerability of Romanian SGM individuals to disordered eating and illuminate the dual role of gender expression as both a stressor and a potential protective factor. Appearance-related anxiety and internalized ideals emerged as key mechanisms, though with nuanced and partly inconsistent effects. By situating these processes within an under-researched Eastern European context, the study contributes culturally specific insights to the global literature on SGM health disparities. Future research should employ intersectional designs and incorporate broader constructs such as muscularity-oriented dissatisfaction and compensatory behaviors.
Keywords: Eating Disorders, Gender variance, body image, Sexual and gender minorities, Social appearance
Received: 02 Jul 2025; Accepted: 22 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Micu, Godeanu and Constantin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Vasile Constantin, constantin.vasile@unibuc.ro
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.