Examining Gender Norms Of Body Image And Eating Behavior In NCAA Student-Athletes

Lean sports, like gymnastics and endurance running, have been at the forefront of research on disordered eating. Yet, little is known about how athletic men and women differ in body checking behaviors, a known risk factor for disordered eating in nonathletes. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences on measures of eating behavior and body checking between full-time collegiate student-athletes and nonathletes. METHODS: A single survey was sent via email to eligible full-time college students (n = 85 nonathletes) and NCAA student-athletes (n = 174 student-athletes). A 3X3 MANOVA assessed independent variables of sport type (k = 3; team sport, individual sport, nonathlete) and gender identity (k = 3; man, woman, other gender identity) on eating behavior (EAT-26) and masculine body checking (Male Body Checking Questionnaire; mBCQ). RESULTS: There was a statistically significant multivariate main effect of gender F(10, 464) = 9.219, p<0.001, np2 = 0.166, and a significant multivariate interaction of gender and sport type F(15, 699) = 2.806, p=0.001, np2 = 0.057. Follow-up comparisons for team sport athletes found that women overall scored significantly higher (p<0.001) on the mBCQ compared to men. Women team sport athletes also scored significantly higher on the mBCQ than women nonathletes (p < 0.001). In contrast, nonathlete men scored significantly higher on the mBCQ than men team sport athletes (p = 0.003) and individual sport athletes (p = 0.048). No differences were observed among women and other gender identity team sport athletes (all ps > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that body checking behaviors that traditionally have been studied as masculine and male occur more frequently in women than men. This effect seems to be driven by women team sport athletes, who reported more “male” body checking behaviors than the nonathlete women; whereas for men, nonathletes reported more “male” body checking behaviors compared to team and individual sport athletes. Therefore, assessments that are based on traditional views of maleness and femaleness may overlook significant risk factors for eating disorders in college athletes. Future research is needed to investigate the gender-sport type interaction to better understand the risk factors associated with disordered eating.