Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Eat Weight Disord DOI 10.1007/s40519-017-0372-2 ORIGINAL ARTICLE The moderating efect of gender role on the relationships between gender and attitudes about body and eating in a sample of Italian adolescents J. Lampis 1  · S. Cataudella 1  · A. Busonera 2  · S. De Simone 1  · M. Tommasi 3   Received: 4 October 2016 / Accepted: 10 February 2017 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 Conclusions Our data suggest that adolescents who endorsed a gender role that is socially considered discrep- ant from their biological sex (girls with higher levels of masculinity and boys with higher levels of femininity) are more likely to show higher level of bulimia and drive of thinness. This suggests the need for prevention and treat- ment programmes for eating disorders that take into account individuals’ gender-role orientation and the infu- ence that culturally dominant gender beliefs can exert on it. Keywords Gender · Gender roles · Body dissatisfaction · Bulimia · Drive for thinness · Italian adolescents Introduction The importance that adolescents attribute to physical appearance can lead them to pursue an idealized body shape [1], and even to resort to dysfunctional attitudes and behaviours, such as body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness and bulimia, which are recognized as prodromal symp- toms of eating disorders [2]. Traditionally, disordered eat- ing behaviours have been considered a female issue, but today males show a complex relationship with their bodies, which can infuence their eating attitudes [3–5]. Research has begun to focus on the diferences between males and females on these issues [6]. Studies with eating disorder patients showed that these pathologies tend to display simi- lar features in both genders [7, 8]; however, women have been found to be less satisfed with their overall physical aspect [9, 10] as with specifc body parts [11, 12], and they invest more energy in their appearance [13] and report higher levels of a drive for thinness and bulimic behaviours than do males [14, 15]. In Italy, the prevalence and fea- tures of disordered eating behaviours are similar to those of Abstract Purpose The diferential prevalence of eating disorders in males and females can be explained by the impact of gen- der-role orientations. Inside the Italian socio-cultural con- text, gender socialization can be infuenced by stereotypical gender beliefs, and this may contribute to the psychological distress of individuals who identify with discrepant gender roles from their biological sex. Our study explored, within the Italian context, the potential moderating efect of mas- culinity and femininity on the relationships between gender and attitudes about body and eating. Methods Nine hundred and twenty Italian male and female adolescents (M = 427, F = 493; age 14–21 years) completed the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2) and the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI). Results A moderating efect of gender role on the rela- tionship between gender and bulimia, and drive of thinness emerged. Girls with higher levels of masculinity scored higher on bulimia than did their counterparts with lower levels, and boys with higher levels of femininity scored higher on bulimia and on drive for thinness than did their counterparts with lower levels. Data did not reveal a mod- erating efect of gender role on the relationship between gender and body satisfaction. * J. Lampis jlampis@unica.it 1 Department of Pedagogy, Psychology and Philosophy, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy 2 Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy 3 Department of Psychological Sciences, Humanities and Territory, G. D’Annunzio University of Chieti, Chieti, Italy