title: Healthcare professionals' stigmatization of men with anabolic androgenic steroid use and eating disorders.
abstract: Building upon previous research on the stigmatization of individuals with eating disorders (EDs), the present study sought to evaluate healthcare providers' attitudes toward male anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) users. Healthcare providers (N=148) were first randomly assigned to read one of four vignettes describing a male AAS user, ED patient, cocaine user, or healthy control. Each provider then rated, on a scale of -3 to +3, how strongly either word in one of 22 word-pairs described his or her feelings toward the person described in the vignette. Results indicated that providers perceived the ED and AAS use patients less favorably than the cocaine user or healthy adult, suggesting that the two groups may be stigmatized by health providers. Given the psychiatric and medical risks associated with AAS use and EDs, reducing bias may help reduce the personal suffering and public health burden related to these behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey, 152 Frelinghuysen Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08854, United States; Eating and Weight Disorders Program, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1425 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10029, United States. Electronic address: jessica.yu@rutgers.edu.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Eating and Weight Disorders Program, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1425 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10029, United States.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hildebrandt
authors.affiliation: Gallatin School of Individualized Study, New York University, 1 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003, United States.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lanzieri
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D045930:Anabolic Agents; D000728:Androgens; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D057545:Social Stigma; D013240:Stereotyping; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D045930:Anabolic Agents; D000728:Androgens
keywords: Anabolic androgenic steroid use; Body dissatisfaction; Eating disorder; Healthcare providers; Men; Stigma