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The Mental Health Impact of Physical Appearance Concerns in the Context of Other Life Domains Among Australian Gay Men

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Abstract

Previous studies have identified gay men as a high-risk population for body image disturbances. However, little research has examined the mental health impact of gay men’s physical appearance concerns in the context of other major life domains. The present study addressed this gap by investigating how mental health outcomes (satisfaction with life, self-esteem, positive well-being, and psychological distress) were associated with satisfaction with and importance of physical appearance, work, family relationships, friendships, health and fitness, and sex life among Australian gay men aged 18–39. The possible moderating role of intimate relationship status was also examined. Results from an online survey revealed that greater satisfaction with physical appearance, work, family, and friendships all had similar positive associations with mental health. However, more importance placed on physical appearance was more consistently associated with poorer mental health compared with the subjective importance of other domains. Findings also indicated the associations between physical appearance satisfaction and life satisfaction, and between physical appearance importance and positive well-being, were weaker for those in relationships. Thus, physical appearance matters in gay men’s lives, but was only one factor when considered in the broader context of other life areas that contributed to overall well-being. These findings suggest the need for a nuanced and contextualized understanding of how physical appearance concerns fit into gay men’s lives.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by funding from by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. Some of the analyses reported in this article were also reported in the third author’s Graduate Diploma in Psychology research thesis. The authors would like to thank the men who participated in the survey, Matthew Poole for his research assistance, and Trent Farrell, Brian Mustanski, and three anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on an earlier version of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Discipline, College of Arts, Victoria University, P.O. Box 14428, Melbourne, VIC, 8001, Australia

    Warwick Hosking & Brittany van der Rest

  2. Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia

    Warwick Hosking & Anthony Lyons

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  1. Warwick Hosking
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  2. Anthony Lyons
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  3. Brittany van der Rest
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Correspondence to Warwick Hosking.

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Hosking, W., Lyons, A. & van der Rest, B. The Mental Health Impact of Physical Appearance Concerns in the Context of Other Life Domains Among Australian Gay Men. Arch Sex Behav 46, 1453–1464 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-016-0791-6

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