Factors Influencing Relations Between Pubertal Timing and Body Image in LGBTQ+ Individuals: A Two-Part Study

• In Event: Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Topic - Sex, Gender

Abstract

During puberty, adolescents must reconcile their bodily changes with gendered societal attractiveness ideals (Smolak, Murnen, & Thompson, 2005; Stice & Bearman, 2001). This is also when individuals navigate increased social responsibility, increased sexual interest, and intensified gendered societal expectations regarding appearance and behavior (Forbes & Dahl, 2010; Gillen & Lefkowitz, 2006; Hill & Lynch, 1983). Research suggests that the timing of the onset of puberty may influence downstream body image, and these effects may differ by gender (Duncan, Ritter, Dornbusch, Gross, & Carlsmith, 1985; McCabe & Ricciardelli, 2004). Body image becomes a more significant concern for all adolescents during puberty; additional challenges may face adolescents whose sexual or gender identities do not align with gendered societal expectations (McGuire, Doty, Catalpa, & Ola, 2016; Mendle, Beltz, Carter, & Dorn, 2019). Because LGBTQ+ adolescents are understudied in puberty research, more research is needed to understand the potentially unique experiences within this population (Deardorff, Hoyt, Carter, & Shirtcliff, 2019). This two-part study examines gender differences in relations between pubertal timing and downstream body image in LGBTQ+ individuals, as well as potential moderators, including timing of sexual identity milestones, outness, masculinity and femininity, and social support.

The following hypotheses will be explored in both study parts:
1. In both queer women and men, there will be significant positive correlations between each of the following pairs of variables: downstream body image and outness, downstream body image and social support, outness and social support.
2. There will be significant positive and negative correlations, respectively, between pubertal timing and downstream body image in queer women and queer men.
3. The following factors will moderate the relationship between pubertal timing and downstream body image in both queer women and queer men, as available in the datasets: outness, social support, sexual identity milestones, and masculinity and femininity.

This study includes secondary analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) and original survey data analysis. Using Add Health data, we will analyze data for participants who self-identified as a sexual minority (N = 1506). We will include perceived weight, perceived attractiveness, drive for muscularity, sexual identity self-label, history of romantic attraction and behavior, social support, outness to parents, relative physical development, breast size, age at menarche, facial hair, and voice changes. We also collected survey data from 771 self-identified LGBTQ+ individuals between 18 and 30. The survey instrument included: the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (Bem, 1974), the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015), the Drive for Muscularity Scale (McCreary, Sasse, Saucier, & Dorsch, 2004), the Outness Inventory (Mohr & Fassinger, 2000), and a modified version of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet, & Farley, 1988). Participants answered questions related to their pubertal timing, sexual orientation, timing of sexual identity milestones (e.g., coming out, sexual encounters), and demographic information.

In both study parts, we will first use Pearson’s r correlations to examine relations between the variables of interest, and then we will test our hypotheses using 2-way ANOVAs and linear regressions.

Authors

• Abigail Grace Richburg, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
  Presenting Author

• Abigail Stewart, University of Michigan
  Non-Presenting Author