Can I Love My Body Even if It Doesn't Look Like the Porn Stars'? Longitudinal Associations Between Pornography Use Frequency and Body Appreciation in a Diverse Sample of Adolescents

Online technologies could play an important role in the sexual development of adolescents as they watch more pornography than before. Pornography may relate to adolescents' perceptions of their bodies, especially among those identifying as a sexual and/or gender minority (SGM) as they have an increased risk of body image concerns compared to their heterosexual, cisgender (HC) peers. The present study examined the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations over 3 years between adolescents' pornography use frequency and body appreciation, considering potential gender and sexual orientation-based differences. Results from linear univariate and parallel processes latent growth curve models with a multi-group approach among 2904 adolescents (MageT1 = 14.5 years, SD = 0.61; 51.4% girls, 16.3% sexual minority) demonstrated that HC and SGM girls' body appreciation slightly decreased over time. Moreover, HC boys, HC girls and SGM girls' pornography use frequency slightly increased over time. Cross-sectionally, greater pornography use frequency was associated with lower levels of body appreciation in HC girls and SGM boys, with a small effect size. However, longitudinally, pornography use frequency and body appreciation were not related to each other in either group. Our findings support that pornography use, in the short term, is negatively associated with adolescents' body appreciation, although these associations might not hold in the long term. Adolescents may be more critical of body ideals represented in pornography as they learn to think with more discernment about the pornographic depictions of bodies and sexuality.

Validation of the Body Appreciation Scale-2 and relationships to eating behaviors and health among sexual minorities

Although the study of positive body image continues to expand, researchers have predominantly focused the study of this newer construct among presumed heterosexual participants. The purpose of the present study was to examine the factor structure of a measure of positive body image, the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2), among sexual minority participants. The present study also sought to psychometrically validate the BAS-2 among sexual minorities by assessing its relationship with other facets of positive body image, including functionality appreciation and body image flexibility, as well as other related constructs, such as body dissatisfaction, disordered eating behaviors, intuitive eating behaviors, and physical and mental health. Results from a confirmatory factor analysis of 223 sexual minority adults (M_age = 32.45, SD = 10.07) indicated that the BAS-2 displayed strong factorial validity with a unitary factor structure. Furthermore, the BAS-2's construct validity was supported based on correlations with other measures of positive body image, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating behavior. Results from this cross-sectional study supported a relationship between body appreciation and intuitive eating behaviors, as well as physical and mental health among sexual minority participants. These findings provide an initial understanding of body appreciation and other related constructs among sexual minority individuals.

Relationships between Sexual Orientation, Weight, and Health in a Population-Based Sample of California Women

BACKGROUND

Most biomedical research has reported associations between weight and physical health problems; little is known about whether those associations vary by sexual identity.

METHODS

Pooled data from the 2003 through 2013 waves of the California Health Interview Survey was used to construct logistic regression models to examine whether the associations between weight and four chronic conditions (type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and asthma) varied by sexual identity.

RESULTS

A total of 97,720 heterosexual and 2,822 lesbian/bisexual women comprised the analytic sample. There was a significant interaction between weight status and sexual identity (p < .001) for all four chronic diseases. Among lesbian/bisexual women, weight status was positively associated with heart disease, hypertension, asthma, and diabetes, although the associations between any weight status and heart disease, and between overweight and asthma, were not statistically significant. Among heterosexual women, weight status was positively and significantly associated with heart disease, hypertension, asthma, and diabetes. Except for overweight and heart disease, these associations remained significant after adjustment for covariates.

CONCLUSION

This study underscores the importance of disaggregating analyses by sexual identity in studies that examine weight-chronic disease associations.

Born Fat

Although some popular press and nonscholarly sources have claimed that weight is largely unchangeable, the relationship between this belief and objective measures of health remains unclear. We tested the hypothesis that people who believe weight is unchangeable will have poorer objective and subjective health, and fewer exercise behaviors and poorer eating habits, than people who believe weight is changeable. Participants were 4,166 men and 4,655 women enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in the 2007 to 2010 iterations. Believing that weight was uncontrollable was negatively related to exercise and healthful dietary practices and positively related to unhealthful eating. Lack of exercise and unhealthful eating were, in turn, associated with poor physical health. Age, but not gender, moderated the relationships between belief in weight changeability and exercise behaviors, healthful eating, and unhealthful eating. This study suggests that believing weight is unchangeable is associated with poor health behaviors and poorer physical health.