Eating disorders symptoms in sexual minority women: A systematic review

Although the literature consistently shows increased levels of psychological distress in the gay population, less evidence-and with contrasting findings-is available with regard to lesbian women. The aim of the present study is to review the literature in the eating disorders (EDs) field in order to provide further data on the frequency of EDs symptoms in sexual minority women.

A systematic review of the studies identified by electronic database search (PubMed, Ovid, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar) up to August 2017.

Fourty-five studies were found, conducted on 372,256 women. Only 7 studies investigated patients with lifetime diagnosis of ED. As for the symptomatology of EDs, 39 studies were found, which presented huge differences in the scales used for the assessment (e.g., Eating Disorders Inventory and Eating Attitudes Test-26).

A higher number of diagnoses of EDs were found in sexual minority women, with a symptomatology characterized by higher occurrence of binge eating and purging, as well as lower body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness, compared with heterosexual peers.