How Patterns of Femininity Discrepancy and Discrepancy Stress Associate With Body Talk in Heterosexual and Sexual Minority Female Adolescents and Young Adults: A Latent Profile Analysis

INTRODUCTION: Femininity discrepancy and discrepancy stress are crucial factors affecting body talk. However, how the patterns of femininity discrepancy and discrepancy stress are associated with female adolescents and young adults' body talk, and whether such associations differ by sexual orientation, are lacking research. METHODS: = 19.64, SD = 0.88) were recruited to finish an online questionnaire assessing body talk, femininity discrepancy and femininity discrepancy stress. Latent Profile Analysis was applied to explore how patterns of femininity discrepancy and discrepancy stress relate to body talk in heterosexual and sexual minority female adolescents and young adults. RESULTS: For both samples, 4-profile solution demonstrated best fit. In heterosexual sample, a unique low discrepancy/high stress profile was identified, in contrast, a high discrepancy/low stress profile was identified in sexual minority sample. Moreover, heterosexual females with high discrepancy/high stress showed the strongest link to negative fat talk. Among sexual minority females, the moderate discrepancy/moderate stress profile exhibited the highest levels of negative fat talk. For negative muscle talk, femininity discrepancy was positively associated in heterosexual females, but no such association was found in sexual minority females. As for positive body talk, femininity discrepancy was negatively associated in heterosexual females, while discrepancy stress was negatively associated in sexual minority females. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the moderating role of sexual orientation between body talk and patterns of femininity discrepancy and discrepancy stress, suggesting interventions tailored to each group's unique characteristics.