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History of Eating Disorders in Men
-Dates back to Roman Empire
-First case of male anorexia in 1689
Prevalence of Eating Disorder in Males Today
-Dramatic increase, 250% in 10 years
-Arnold Andersen reported 1 in 10 people with eating disorders were male 13 years ago,
recent Harvard study reports that currently 25% are male (Hudson et al., 2007)
-why the rise?
Sociocultural Factors Perpetuating Eating Disorders in Men
-Unrealistic body image
-Media influence
Muscle Dysmorphic Disorder “Bigorexia”
-Proposed diagnostic criteria for Muscle Dysmorphia for DSM-V
-Problems with current diagnostic criteria for eating disorders
-60% of those diagnosed with ED end up in NOS category (DeAngelis, 2009), suggests criteria need to be looked
at more carefully to include all eating disorders, including binge eating disorder and muscle dysmorphia
-Why this disorder affects males, pressure to gain more and more muscle
-Socially acceptable eating disorder because men with it look healthy
Gender Differences
-Symptom presentation
-Differences in compensatory methods of Bulimia
-Body Dissatisfaction
-men desire more muscle women desire to be more thin
-men are more dissatisfied with their upper body, women tend to be more dissatisfied with their lower body
Who are Men that Develop Eating Disorders?
Main issues: Specific sports involvement (Bean, 2003)
History of weight issues (Greenberg & Shoen, 2008)
Sexual abuse/trauma history
Sexual Orientation (Strong et al., 2004)
Co-morbidity with other disorder and/or addictions
Why the Need for a Eating Disorder Assessment for Men?
-Most eating disorder assessment tools were developed and validated on females and do not detect
the “type” of body dissatisfaction that men are dealing with
-Current assessment have items that pertain to women such as:
“My Butt is too large” or “My thighs jiggle”, items that men are not likely to endorse
Introducing the Eating Disorder Assessment for Men
-What issues/factors does it measure?
-How to differentiate between men and women
-How to differentiate a male who is at risk for an eating disorder
-Reliability/Validity
-How will this assist in treatment and diagnosis?
It will be important to examine the etiology and treatment issues pertaining to men specifically. Issues shown to be risk factors that we will address specific to men include; specific sports involvement, sexual abuse/trauma history, history of having weight issues, sexual orientation and co morbidity with other disorders and addictions. Many of these issues contribute to the main topic of the presentation; the need for a male specific eating disorder instrument. We will be introducing the Eating Disorder Assessment for Men (EDAM), the first assessment tool developed for and tested on males with eating disorders. Factors measured by the EDAM look at the unique issues pertaining to men such as a drive for muscularity, exercise issues, disordered eating and body image issues. Discussion will include how to detect eating disorders in men, the differences in presentation and those concerns most specific to men who develop eating disorders.
Ray Lemberg, PhD is a pioneer in the field of research and treatment of eating disorders. He is currently an Associate Editor for Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention. He has received the Arizona Psychological Association, Distinguished Service Award in 1991. Ray also served as President for both the Scottsdale Psychological Society and the Granite Mountain Psychological Society. He has over 45 publications, close to 100 presentation and numerous media interviews. He authored the book Eating Disorders: A Reference Sourcebook in 1999. Ray’s contributions to the field of eating disorder treatment and research has been invaluable.
Stevie Stanford, PhD was recently named “The 2011Phi Delta Kappa Doctoral Student of the Year” at Northern Arizona University where she completed her studies on males with eating disorders. She is currently working with The Prescott House and their eating disorder program for men. As an EMDR trained therapist, she also works on the Hopi Reservation in Arizona, treating underserved teenagers who have experienced trauma. She has presented on men with eating disorders at the Summit “Clinical Recipes for Success” conference in 2010. Stevie enjoys learning and traveling. She is mostly excited about her new journey as a psychologist.
