Men-specific model of Eating Disordersand its use in psychoeducation: longitudinal and experimental research

Eating disorders are an increasingly common form of chronic mental disorder that can lead to severe and life-threatening health effects. Hospitalization and mortality rates associated with eating disorders are especially high for men, even though eating disorders are perceived as a “female issue”. Therefore, men, their families and health professionals may have trouble recognizing men’s symptoms as a manifestation of eating disorders, considering other less “female” explanations. This is also confirmed by research on eating disorders which is carried out mainly or exclusively among women, using tools designed to measure symptoms specific to women, and not to men who, unlike women, want to be more muscular instead of thinner. Additionally, most of the psychoeducational materials are addressed to women, and eating disorders treatment facilities often target women with the décor (e.g., colors) that, stereotypically, are considered feminine. Therefore, measuring the specificity of eating disorders symptoms among men and creating men-specific prevention and treatment methods may be of great importance in helping men to correctly recognize their symptoms and seek help.

Two main goals of the project are:

1. To create a men-specific model of eating disorders (with specific symptoms, sequence of symptoms, and starting points). To achieve this goal we will recruit 500 men from the general population to participate in a longitudinal study (3 measurement points over 12-months).
2. To create a short psychoeducational intervention that will be based on the model developed in Study 1. We will test how effective the intervention is with respect to encouraging men to seek help . We will conduct an experimental study (3 measurements points over 3-months), where 200 men, who are at an increased risk of eating disorders, will participate in a standard (currently commonly used) psychoeducation on eating disorders or men-specific psychoeducation on eating disorders.

We believe that raising awareness about eating disorders as not just a “female issue” but also a condition that affects men will encourage men to seek help in this matter. We will also create a website about eating disorders among men and male mental health. Therefore, the proposed project may provide not only new knowledge on men-specific risk factors for eating disorders but also tools to help men correctly recognize their symptoms and decide to seek help.