بررسی تفاوت های جنسیتی در تصویر بدن، پاتولوژی خوردن و آزار و اذیت جنسی

Abstract This study examines the relationship between body image (weight/shape concerns), eating pathology, and sexual harassment among men and women (N = 2446). Hierarchical regressions controlling for depression revealed main effects of gender such that women reported greater weight/shape concerns, eating pathology, dietary restraint, eating concerns, and binge eating compared to men. Main effects for sexual harassment indicated that as harassment increased, participants reported increased weight/shape concerns, eating pathology, dietary restraint, eating concerns, binge eating, and compensatory behaviors. There were small but significant interactions between gender and harassment for eating pathology total score (which included each of the domains listed above), weight/shape concerns, dietary restraint, and eating concerns such that the relationship between increased harassment and increased pathology was stronger for women compared to men. The largest interaction was found for compensatory behaviors, such that while women and men's scores both increased as harassment increased, the relationship was stronger for men.

Introduction A sizable number of women and a rising number of men in the United States feel significant dissatisfaction with their bodies and engage in dysfunctional eating behaviors (McFarland and Petrie, 2012 and Stice and Whitenton, 2002). It is recognized that mistreatment, particularly if it is focused on one's body (e.g., sexual victimization), is associated with increased weight/shape concerns and disordered eating. Although a small body of research has begun to examine whether sexual harassment may have similar effects, this relationship has not been sufficiently investigated, particularly across gender. Given that sexual harassment is associated with increased body monitoring and shame (Lindberg, Grabe, & Hyde, 2007), we predict that targets of sexual harassment will report increased weight/shape concerns and eating pathology. Objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997; see Moradi & Huang, 2008 for a review) proposes that women are routinely sexualized and objectified throughout their lifetimes. Women frequently internalize these views and begin to objectify themselves (e.g., tie their self-worth to their appearance), which is, in turn, associated with distortions in body image (weight/shape concerns), body shame, and disordered eating behaviors (Forbes et al., 2006, Harrell et al., 2006, Lindberg et al., 2006 and Prichard and Tiggemann, 2005). Although rarely studied, there is evidence that men are also vulnerable to self-objectification, albeit at lower rates than women, and that it may be directly associated with similar effects on body shame and disordered eating behaviors (Engeln-Maddox et al., 2011 and McKinley, 2006). Further, objectification theory proposes that personal experiences of sexual objectification (e.g., appearance evaluations and inappropriate sexual comments) will exacerbate negative outcomes. Consistent with this proposal, sexual harassment and appearance-based harassment have been associated with increased body surveillance, body shame, and disordered eating (Harned, 2000, Lindberg et al., 2007 and Tylka and Hill, 2004). Given the findings on weight/shape concerns and disordered eating related to self-objectification, as well as the ways in which sexually objectifying behaviors such as sexual harassment may exacerbate these outcomes, the current study examines the role of sexual harassment in predicting weight/shape concerns and disordered eating behaviors across men and women. Past research has examined the impact of sexual abuse on weight/shape concerns and eating behaviors and has found that sexual abuse is not a specific etiologic factor for eating disorders (Fischer et al., 2010 and Waller et al., 1993). Conversely, sexual harassment may have direct effects on weight/shape concerns and eating disturbances because it is pervasive across situations and time, especially for women, and contributes to the general milieu of women being sexualized and objectified (Petersen & Hyde, 2012). Estimates suggest that over half of all women experience harassment at work (Ilies, Hauserman, Schwochau, & Stibal, 2003), 70% of college women report harassment (Buchanan et al., 2009 and Paludi and Paludi, 2003), and 95% of high school girls report sexual harassment (Ormerod, Collinsworth, & Perry, 2008). Sexual harassment also comes from a variety of perpetrators and is present in a variety of settings. For example, targets report harassment from peers, bosses, and subordinates (DeSouza, 2011), random strangers on the street, and people of the same or opposite sex (Street, Gradus, Stafford, & Kelly, 2007). Further, the content of sexually harassing comments are often appearance-based, focusing on the target's body, which objectification theory proposes will increase the likelihood that s/he will develop weight/shape concerns and eating disturbances (Petersen & Hyde, 2012). By elementary and middle school (Murnen & Smolak, 2000), children who report receiving negative comments based on their bodies and physical appearance respond with increased body shame and monitoring; although more common and severe for girls, similar relationships are found for boys (Lindberg et al., 2007, Lunde and Frisén, 2011 and Petersen and Hyde, 2012). Consistent with this, the handful of studies examining sexual harassment and eating behaviors among adults have found that sexual harassment is a specific risk factor for disordered eating behaviors (e.g., Harned, 2000 and Harned and Fitzgerald, 2002). As such, the relationship between weight/shape concerns, eating pathology, and sexual harassment warrants further examination. Sexual Harassment, Weight/Shape Concerns, and Eating Pathology From a legal perspective, sexual harassment has two forms: quid pro quo and hostile environment (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 1980). Quid pro quo harassment is defined as sexual threats or bribery that are implicitly or explicitly established as a condition of employment or used as the basis for employment or educational decisions. For example, quid pro quo harassment would include using one's willingness to comply with sexual acts as a criterion for determining a course grade. Hostile environment harassment involves any sexual harassment behaviors, such as sexual jokes, comments, and touching that create an intimidating or offensive working environment that interferes with an individual's ability to do his or her job or to perform academically. Social science research also defines three subtypes of sexual harassment behaviors: gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention, and sexual coercion (Schneider, Pryor, & Fitzgerald, 2010). Gender harassment is defined as verbal and nonverbal gender-based behaviors that are insulting, hostile, and degrading. Unwanted sexual attention is considered any unwanted sexual behavior that is deemed offensive to the target. Hostile environment claims frequently involve gender harassment and unwanted sexual attention. Finally, in sexual coercion (equivalent to quid pro quo), sexual cooperation is extorted via promises of benefits (e.g., promotions, raises, better grades) or threats (e.g., failing a class, being fired). Women report sexual harassment at a significantly higher frequency than men (Berdahl, 2007, Cortina and Berdahl, 2008, Cortina et al., 2002 and McLaughlin et al., 2012). Furthermore, women report experiencing greater distress and more psychological problems following sexual harassment than do men (Cortina and Berdahl, 2008, Freels et al., 2005 and Rotundo et al., 2001). Despite this gender disparity in frequency, sexual harassment has been associated with a wide array of distressing psychological symptoms, including depression, posttraumatic stress, physical health problems, and work or academic disengagement in both men and women (Avina and O’Donohue, 2002, Buchanan et al., 2009, Buchanan and Fitzgerald, 2008, Larkin and Rice, 2005 and Larkin et al., 1996). More specifically, research has provided preliminary support for relationships between sexual harassment, weight/shape concerns, and eating pathology. Namely, sexual harassment is associated with decreased self esteem, particularly body-based self esteem (Brinkman and Rickard, 2009, Harned, 2000, Harned and Fitzgerald, 2002, Lindberg et al., 2007, Ormerod et al., 2008 and Tiggemann and Kuring, 2004), which concomitantly increases the likelihood of developing pathological eating behaviors (Backhouse and Cohen, 1978, Hofschire and Greenberg, 2002, Lindberg et al., 2006 and Petersen and Hyde, 2012). It is also true that sexual harassment may instill fear and heighten bodily discomfort, increasing the likelihood of developing concerns about one's weight and shape. Additionally, pre-existing weight/shape concerns heighten the risk of developing eating pathology following a sexual harassment experience (Barker and Galambos, 2003, Fredrickson and Roberts, 1997, Hofschire and Greenberg, 2002, Larkin and Rice, 2005 and Petersen and Hyde, 2012). A limitation of the current literature is the relative absence of research exploring men's weight/shape concerns, eating pathology, and experiences of sexual harassment. Studies rarely examine eating pathology among men, but the research done to date consistently finds that men report less body dissatisfaction and eating pathology than do women (Hudson, Hiripi, Pope, & Kessler, 2007). Similarly, there is a dearth of information examining the impact of sexual harassment on men because they are frequently excluded in sexual harassment research (Cortina & Berdahl, 2008). Research that has included men finds that not only do they report far fewer experiences of sexual harassment compared to women (Berdahl, 2007, Cortina et al., 2002 and Kalof et al., 2001), but they also perceive harassment as less severe (Rotundo, Nguyen, & Sackett, 2001). Recent research examining psychological distress associated with sexual harassment suggests that typically men also report less psychological distress following harassment compared to women (Rotundo et al., 2001), but can experience depression and psychological distress, particularly if they perceive the harassment as bothersome or frightening (Settles et al., 2011 and Street et al., 2007). Regarding its relationship with eating pathology, whereas a link between sexual harassment and symptoms of disordered eating in women has been established, few studies have investigated this relationship in men. Notably, the relationship between general eating pathology and sexual harassment was not significant in one of the only studies assessing men (Harned & Fitzgerald, 2002). However, it is important to note that this study examined harassment in the U.S. military, which may not generalize to civilian populations. Active duty military personnel must meet stringent requirements for physical fitness and weight. As a result, they may not be as likely to have concerns about their body weight or shape, nor engage in disordered eating. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the experiences of men necessitates examination of weight/shape concerns, eating disturbances, and sexual harassment among civilian men. Further, while it is likely that sexual harassment is a risk factor for weight/shape concerns and eating pathology among civilian men, the relationship is suspected to be stronger among women than men because men often do not perceive harassment as negatively and typically have less psychological distress following harassment. The Current Study Accordingly, the current study aims to address these gaps in the extant literature by examining the relationship between weight/shape concerns, eating pathology, and sexual harassment in an ethnically diverse sample of men and women. Depression is included as a control variable because it is a common comorbidity of weight/shape concerns and eating pathology (Brausch & Gutierrez, 2009), and is commonly found among targets of sexual harassment (Mikkelsen & Einarsen, 2002). Although a handful of studies have examined the direct relationship between sexual harassment experiences and subsequent weight/shape concerns and eating pathology among women (Harned, 2000, Harned and Fitzgerald, 2002 and Larkin et al., 1996), this study is one of the first to explore these relationships among men. Drawing upon previous research (e.g., Barker and Galambos, 2003, Harned, 2000, Harned and Fitzgerald, 2002 and Ormerod et al., 2008), we hypothesized that (a) women will demonstrate significantly more weight/shape concerns and eating pathology than will men; (b) regardless of gender, increased sexual harassment will be associated with increased weight/shape concerns and eating pathology; and (c) gender will moderate the relationship between sexual harassment and weight/shape concern and eating pathology, such that increased sexual harassment will be associated with greater weight/shape concerns and eating pathology in women than men.

Results Preliminary Analyses The correlations, means, and standard deviations of the variables used in the current study are displayed by gender (see Table 1). All of the correlations were in the expected direction. Increased sexual harassment was associated with an escalation in eating pathology total scores, weight/shape concerns, dietary restraint, eating concerns, binge eating, and compensatory behaviors for both men and women. Furthermore, depression was mildly to moderately and positively correlated with each criterion variable. Table 1. Means, standard deviations, and correlations by gender (N = 2446). 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Men M SD 1. Sexual harassment .21** .12** .14** .39** .41** .41** .49** 7.21 12.07 2. Eating pathology total score .20** .96** .79** .81** .41** .28** .35** 29.76 20.28 3. Weight/shape concerns .15** .97** .64** .71** .31** .19** .29** 19.17 13.18 4. Dietary restraint .17** .85** .73** .57** .28** .15** .22** 5.74 5.11 5. Eating concerns .29** .89** .80** .75** .43** .32** .39** 2.98 3.54 6. Binge eating .25** .63** .55** .53** .66** .39** .34** 1.32 1.02 7. Compensatory behaviors .15** .34** .27** .31** .38** .31** .47** 0.17 0.59 8. Depression .25** .32** .30** .26** .31** .24** .16** 10.61 9.73 Women M 7.58 49.12 31.60 9.02 6.38 1.63 0.11 11.13 SD 10.78 28.99 17.67 6.66 5.67 1.29 0.32 8.97 Note. Correlations for women (n = 1715) are presented below the diagonal; correlations for men (n = 731) are presented above the diagonal. ** p ≤ .01. Table options Hierarchical Moderated Regression The results of six hierarchical multiple regression analyses predicting each of the weight/shape concerns and eating pathology scales are displayed in Table 2. For all of the regression analyses, the first step included the control variable (i.e., depression), which was significant for each criterion variable. The second step included the main effects for gender (coded as 0 = female and 1 = male) and sexual harassment, while the third step included the interaction of the standardized sexual harassment scores and gender. Table 2. Eating pathology and body dissatisfaction predicted by sexual harassment (N = 2406). Variable Cum. R2 Adj. R2 ΔR2 B SE B β t Criterion: eating pathology total score overall F(4, 2402) = 155.14 *** Step 1 .10 .10 .10 Step 2 .20 .20 .10 SH 0.25 0.05 0.10 5.13*** Gender −18.80 1.12 −0.31 −16.83*** Step 3 .20 .20 .004 SH 0.36 0.06 0.14 6.25*** Gender −17.43 1.18 −0.29 −14.77*** SH × Gen −0.34 0.10 −0.08 −3.55*** Criterion: weight/shape concerns overall F(4, 2367) = 138.87 *** Step 1 .08 .08 .08 Step 2 .19 .18 .11 SH 0.08 0.03 0.05 2.44* Gender −12.14 0.70 −0.32 −17.34*** Step 3 .19 .19 .005 SH 0.15 0.04 0.10 4.07*** Gender −11.25 0.74 −0.30 −15.22*** SH × Gen −0.22 0.06 −0.09 −3.67*** Criterion: dietary restraint overall F(4, 2402) = 82.99 *** Step 1 .06 .06 .06 Step 2 .12 .12 .06 SH 0.05 0.01 0.09 4.19*** Gender −3.19 0.27 −0.23 −11.88*** Step 3 .12 .12 .004 SH 0.07 0.01 0.13 5.23*** Gender −2.90 0.28 −0.21 −10.22*** SH × Gen −0.07 0.02 −0.07 −3.12** Criterion: eating concerns overall F(4, 2401) = 170.33 *** Step 1 .10 .10 .10 Step 2 .22 .22 .12 SH 0.10 0.01 0.21 10.89*** Gender −3.29 0.21 −0.28 −15.57*** Step 3 .22 .22 .004 SH 0.12 0.01 0.25 11.05*** Gender −3.03 0.22 −0.26 −13.58*** SH × Gen −0.06 0.02 −0.08 −3.52*** Criterion: binge eating overall F(4, 2401) = 86.92 *** Step 1 .07 .07 .07 Step 2 .13 .13 .06 SH 0.03 0.002 0.22 11.08*** Gender −0.89 0.05 −0.11 −5.59*** Step 3 .13 .13 .00 SH 0.03 0.003 0.22 9.25*** Gender −0.29 0.05 −0.11 −5.29*** SH × Gen 0.00 0.004 0.00 0.009 Criterion: compensatory behaviors overall F(4, 2382) = 66.00 *** Step 1 .07 .07 .07 Step 2 .09 .09 .01 SH 0.003 0.001 0.12 5.88*** Gender 0.01 0.01 0.02 1.09 Step 3 .10 .10 .01 SH 0.001 0.001 0.04 1.64 Gender −0.01 0.01 −0.02 −0.92 SH × Gen 0.01 0.001 0.15 5.98*** Note. For all of the regressions, only the criterion variable was entered in Step 1; SH = sexual harassment; Cum. = cumulative; Adj. = adjusted; Gen = gender. * p ≤ .05. ** p ≤ .01. *** p ≤ .001. Table options Our first hypothesis proposed a main effect for gender, such that women would demonstrate significantly more weight/shape concerns and eating pathology than would men. This hypothesis was supported across five of the six criterion variables. Specifically, the women in our sample experienced significantly more weight/shape concerns and eating disturbances (i.e., eating pathology total score, dietary restraint, eating concerns, and binge eating) than did the men. Contrary to our hypothesis, men reported more compensatory behaviors (vomiting and the use of laxatives and/or diuretics) than did women in our sample. We also proposed that regardless of gender, increased sexual harassment would be associated with increased weight/shape concerns and eating pathology (Hypothesis 2). A main effect of sexual harassment, controlling for depression, was found for each criterion variable. In particular, increased sexual harassment was significantly associated with increased weight/shape concerns and eating disturbances in our sample (i.e., eating pathology total score, dietary restraint, eating concerns, binge eating, and compensatory behaviors). Finally, Hypothesis 3 posited that gender would moderate the relationship between sexual harassment and weight/shape concerns and eating pathology, such that increased sexual harassment would be associated with greater weight/shape concerns and eating disturbances in women than in men.1 We found that the interaction between gender and sexual harassment provided significant improvement in prediction for five of our six criterion variables (i.e., eating pathology total score, weight/shape concerns, dietary restraint, eating concerns, and compensatory behaviors), but not binge eating, providing initial support for our hypothesis that gender moderates the relationship between harassment and eating pathology. It is important to note that the significant ΔR2 values for the interactions are generally small, ranging from .004 to .01. However, because moderator effects can be particularly difficult to detect in non-experimental research designs, ΔR2 values that account for as little as 1% of the variance in a criterion variable can be considered meaningful ( McClelland & Judd, 1993). Using this standard, the interaction of sexual harassment and gender is able to explain a meaningful amount of the variance for compensatory behaviors (ΔR2 = .01). Simple slopes were obtained using the dichotomous scores for the moderator (0 = women; 1 = men) and values that were one standard deviation above and below the mean for the standardized sexual harassment scores (see Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, Fig. 4 and Fig. 5; Aiken & West, 1991). As sexual harassment increased, the endorsement of weight/shape concerns and disordered eating behaviors significantly increased for women but not for men on eating pathology total score, weight/shape concerns, and dietary restraint. For the eating concerns criterion measure, as the degree of sexual harassment increased, the endorsement of eating concerns significantly increased for women and for men; however, the slope of the regression line was significantly steeper for women. On the other hand, as the degree of sexual harassment increased, the increased endorsement of compensatory behaviors was stronger for men than for women. Interaction between gender and sexual harassment on eating pathology total ... Fig. 1. Interaction between gender and sexual harassment on eating pathology total score. Figure options Interaction between gender and sexual harassment on weight/shape concerns. Fig. 2. Interaction between gender and sexual harassment on weight/shape concerns. Figure options Interaction between gender and sexual harassment on dietary restraint. Fig. 3. Interaction between gender and sexual harassment on dietary restraint. Figure options Interaction between gender and sexual harassment on eating concerns. Fig. 4. Interaction between gender and sexual harassment on eating concerns. Figure options Interaction between gender and sexual harassment on compensatory behaviors. Fig. 5. Interaction between gender and sexual harassment on compensatory behaviors.