Gender conflict, object representation, and body image in male anorexia: An investigation of eight subjects

Abstract

This is a study of gender identity, level of object representation, and body image distortion in a cohort of eight males with previous or current diagnoses of anorexia nervosa. Participants were given the Bem Sex‐Role Inventory, the Franck Drawing Completion Test, Conceptual Level of Object Representation, and the Perceived Somatotype Scale. No statistically significant differences from norms were found. The characteristics of gender confusion, object relational deficits, and body image distortion, which have been widely reported as possibly etiological, were not supported by the data. However, possible disparity between conscious and unconscious gender identification was suggested.