Mental Health
Perceptions of male partner pressure to be thin and pornography use: Associations with eating disorder symptomatology in a community sample of adult women.
Open Access: Yes.
Abstract
Objective: Partner-specific factors have been neglected in eating disorder (ED) research. The present study examined two partner-specific variables that were hypothesized to be linked to women’s ED symptoms: perceived male partner thinness-related pressures and pornography use.
Method: Community women (N = 409) in relationships with men completed online anonymous measures of ED symptomatology, perceptions of male partner thinness-related pressure and pornography use, and thin-ideal internalization.
Results: Partner thinness-related pressure was related to higher ED symptomatology, adjusting for age and thinness-related pressures from media, friends, and family. Current and previous partner pornography use were related to higher ED symptomatology, adjusting for age and women’s reports of being bothered by this use. Partner thinness-related pressure and previous partner pornography use were associated with ED symptomatology both directly and through thin-ideal internalization, whereas current partner pornography use was directly associated with ED symptomatology.
Discussion: Perceptions of male partner thinness-related pressure and pornography use constitute unique factors associated with women’s ED symptomatology that may operate indirectly by positioning women to endorse thinness as a personal standard and directly (e.g., by trying to accommodate their partner’s appearance preferences). This study’s findings provide initial support for pursuing subsequent investigations to test these partner variables as ED risk factors.
Relevance
“Our findings uphold the connections between perceived partner thinness-related pressure, perceived pornography use, and adult community women’s ED [eating disorder] symptoms.”
“Perceived current partner pornography use was uniquely associated with women’s overall dieting and specific symptoms of body fat preoccupation, extreme eating-related guilt, and vomiting after eating…Perceived previous partner pornography use was uniquely connected to all ED symptoms…. Importantly, perceived partner pressure and previous partner pornography use were linked to ED symptomatology both directly and indirectly through thin-ideal internalization.”
Citation
