title: Muscle dysmorphia, gender role stress, and sociocultural influences: an exploratory study.
abstract: Our study explored the contribution of gender role stress (GRS) and sociocultural appearance demands to symptoms of muscle dysmorphia (MD) in a college sample of 219 women and 154 men. For women, five GRS subscales, sociocultural appearance demands, age, and frequency of aerobic exercise predicted MD symptoms (model R2 = .33; F(8,210) = 12.81, p < . 001); for men, only one GRS subscale, age, and sociocultural appearance demands predicted MD symptoms (model R2 = .40; F(3,150) = 9.52, p < .001). Post hoc analyses revealed that a small number of items explained a substantial portion of the variation, suggesting that MD may be more related to specific perceptions of pressure to attain an attractive body than to global gender role stress.
authors.affiliation: Division of Kinesiology and Health, University of Wyoming, USA. tucker.readdy@uwyo.edu
authors.forename: Readdy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tucker
authors.forename: Patti Lou
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Watkins
authors.forename: Bradley J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Cardinal
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D057215:Body Dysmorphic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D001828:Body Image; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055070:Resistance Training; D012737:Sex Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D055815:Young Adult