An investigation of the characteristics of muscle dysmorphia in a non-clinical population of adult male weight lifters in Australia

This thesis investigated the characteristics of muscle dysmorphia (MD) among adult weight lifters in Australia. Results of Study 1 (N = 48) indicated low inter-rater reliability for the proposed MD criteria, and that MD represented a syndrome of frequently co-occurring symptoms.Results of Study 2 (N = 648) indicated participants were at risk of having MD (17%), body dysmorphic disorder (10.6%), and eating disorders (33.8%). Evidence was provided for the comorbidity of, and symptomatic similarities between, symptoms of MD and body dysmorphic disorder, and symptoms of MD and eating disorders.