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Evaluation ViewAttendees 1

LGBTQ+
Session Type:: Symposia

Symposium 42 - Stronger Together: The Protective Role of Community Connectedness in Disordered Eating Among Sexual and Gender Minority Populations

Saturday, November 22, 2025
11:45 AM - 1:15 PM CST
Location: Celestin G, Level 3
CE: 1.5

Keywords: LGBTQ+, Eating, Resilience
Level of Familiarity: Basic to Moderate
Recommended Readings: Lefevor, G. T., Sorrell, S. A., Skidmore, S. J., Huynh, K. D., Golightly, R. M., Standifird, E., Searle, K., & Call, M. (2024). When connecting with LGBTQ+ communities helps and why it does: A meta-analysis of the relationship between connectedness and health-related outcomes. Psychological Bulletin, 150(11), 1261-1286. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000447,   Meyer, I. H. (2015). Resilience in the study of minority stress and health of sexual and gender minorities. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 2(3), 209-213. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000132,   Parker, L. L., & Harriger, J. A. (2020). Eating disorders and disordered eating behaviors in the LGBT population: a review of the literature. Journal of Eating Disorders, 8, 51. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-020-00327-y,   ,  

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals face disproportionately high rates of disordered eating compared to their heterosexual, cisgender peers (Parker & Harriger, 2020). Most research to date has established robust associations between minority stressors (e.g., discrimination, internalized stigma) and disordered eating. In addition to minority stressors, emerging evidence suggests that community connectedness, or a sense of belonging and shared emotional bond with other SGM community members, may serve as a protective factor against adverse mental health outcomes (Lefevor et al., 2024; Meyer, 2015). However, the protective role of community connectedness in SGM eating disorder research remains both understudied and complex.

Given recent executive orders and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the U.S., particularly those targeting trans and nonbinary (TNB) individuals, it is critical to emphasize the strength and resilience of SGM populations. This symposium highlights how community connectedness can protect against disordered eating among diverse samples of SGM individuals. Broadly, the symposium aims to raise recognition of community connectedness and related constructs (e.g., community involvement) in SGM eating disorder research across a diverse range of identities, ages, samples (e.g., community, clinical), and methodologies (e.g., cross-sectional, longitudinal, clinical trials).

Our first presenter (PhD counseling psychology student) will present findings from a 4-year longitudinal study with a sample of TNB youth demonstrating the protective role of community connectedness and social support on disordered eating prospectively. Our second presenter (assistant professor and licensed clinical psychologist) will highlight findings from an online study with SM men of how community connectedness may mitigate the effects of within-group stressors (i.e., intraminority gay community stress) and body image concerns on disordered eating. Our third presenter (a PhD clinical psychology student) will build on the prior presentations by examining the distinct interactive effects of different types of community connectedness and community involvement (e.g., social activism vs. nightlife) in predicting disordered eating over time in SM adults. Our fourth presenter (assistant professor and licensed clinical psychologist) will present data from a pilot trial testing an identity-affirmative and cognitive behavioral therapy-based eating disorder treatment for SGM individuals. Results will focus on how the intervention has the potential to leverage positive community involvement among SGM clients to reduce disordered eating.

In conclusion, our discussant (full professor, licensed clinical psychologist, and leading expert in SGM close relationships and mental health) will identify cross-cutting themes and note how findings can inform the development and testing of clinical interventions, public health implications, and ways to foster greater community connectedness among SGM populations. Our discussant will also discuss directions for future eating disorder research with SGM communities that comprehensively examine both risk and protective factors.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, the learner will be able to:
  1. Describe the prospective relationship between community connectedness and disordered eating in SGM youth and adults.
  2. Identify how community connection may protect against appearance pressure from within the SGM community cross-sectionally and longitudinally.
  3. Discuss how community connectedness is integrated into and impacts outcomes of SGM-affirmative therapy for eating disorders.
  4. Identify ways to foster SGM community connectedness in interventions and implications for public health policy.

Presentations:

  • 11:51 AM - 12:12 PM CST
    (SYM 42) Individual and Community Resilience Factors in Body Image and Disordered Eating Among TNB Adolescents

    Speaker: Emmett C. Line, M.S. (he/him/his) – Teachers College, Columbia University

  • 12:12 PM - 12:33 PM CST
    (SYM 42) Community Connectedness as a Buffer Against Gay Community Stress and Disordered Eating in Sexual Minority Men

    Speaker: Zachary A. Soulliard, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – Miami University

    Co-author: Robert Manning III, BA (he/him/his) – Miami University

    Co-author: Connor Elbe, M.A. – Miami University

  • 12:33 PM - 12:54 PM CST
    (SYM 42) The Multiplicative Role of Community Connectedness and Community Involvement on Body Image and Disordered Eating in Sexual Minority Men and Women

    Speaker: Dominic M. Denning, B.A. (he/him/his) – University of Massachusetts Amherst

  • 12:54 PM - 1:15 PM CST
    (SYM 42) The Role of Community Involvement in a Novel Identity-affirmative Eating Disorder Treatment for Sexual Minority Individuals

    Speaker: Tiffany A. Brown, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – Auburn University

    Co-author: Jaclyn Siegel, PhD – NORC at University of Chicago

    Co-author: John Pachankis, Ph.D. – Yale University

    Co-author: Aaron Blashill, PhD (he/him/his) – San Diego State University