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Symposia

LGBTQ+

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

4 - (SYM 42) The Role of Community Involvement in a Novel Identity-affirmative Eating Disorder Treatment for Sexual Minority Individuals

Saturday, November 22, 2025
12:54 PM - 1:15 PM CST
Location: Celestin G, Level 3
Keywords: LGBTQ+, Eating, Resilience
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,   ,  
Abstract Body
Sexual minority (SM) individuals are at increased risk for eating disorders (ED) and experience unique identity-based stressors that necessitate culturally sensitive ED treatment; however, no such treatments have been tested. Affirmative therapy approaches can help clients identify links between SM stressors and ED symptoms, bolster coping strategies, and identify personal and SM community examples of strength/resilience. While SM community involvement should help buffer against ED risk, prior research has been mixed, perhaps due to appearance pressures within the SM community. Thus, this study 1) evaluated the preliminary efficacy of Promoting Resilience to Improve Disordered Eating (PRIDE) – an SM-affirmative ED treatment and 2) explored how PRIDE may change associations between community involvement and ED symptoms over time. N = 14 SM individuals with an ED diagnosis received 14 weekly sessions integrating Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for EDs with techniques and principles of SM-affirmative CBT. Treatment focused on identifying links between SM stressors and ED symptoms, increasing SM stress coping self-efficacy, and increasing LGBTQ community connectedness. Participants completed assessments of ED symptoms, SM stressors, and community involvement at baseline (pre-treatment), posttreatment, and 1-month follow-up.  Preliminary efficacy results suggested large, significant improvements in ED symptoms and significant medium-large improvements in internalized stigma. By 1-month follow-up, 75% of the sample was fully remitted from an ED diagnosis. While the frequency of SM community involvement did not change over time (p = n.s.), community involvement was moderately associated with higher ED symptoms at baseline (r = .32); however, at post-treatment and 1-month follow-up, community involvement was associated with lower ED symptoms (r = -.34, r = -.18, respectively). Initial results support the potential promise of PRIDE, an SM-affirmative ED treatment. Further, results may suggest that SM-affirmative therapy can help shift the way that community involvement impacts ED symptoms to help buffer against risk. Future research should evaluate PRIDE in a larger sample, compared to an active control condition, and explore whether reductions in SM stress reactions explain reductions in ED symptoms.