IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aph/ajpbhl/10.2105-ajph.2008.152942_6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dimensions of sexual orientation and the prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders in the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Bostwick, W.B.
  • Boyd, C.J.
  • Hughes, T.L.
  • McCabe, S.E.

Abstract

Objectives. We used data from a nationally representative sample to examine the associations among 3 dimensions of sexual orientation (identity, attraction, and behavior), lifetime and past-year mood and anxiety disorders, and sex. Methods. We analyzed data from wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Results. Mental health outcomes differed by sex, dimension of sexual orientation, and sexual minority group. Whereas a lesbian, gay, or bisexual identity was associated with higher odds of any mood or anxiety disorder for both men and women, women reporting only same-sex sexual partners in their lifetime had the lowest rates of most disorders. Higher odds of any lifetime mood or anxiety disorder were more consistent and pronounced among sexual minority men than among sexual minority women. Finally, bisexual behavior conferred the highest odds of any mood or anxiety disorder for both males and females. Conclusions. Findings point to mental health disparities among some, but not all, sexual minority groups and emphasize the importance of including multiple measures of sexual orientation in population-based health studies.

Suggested Citation

  • Bostwick, W.B. & Boyd, C.J. & Hughes, T.L. & McCabe, S.E., 2010. "Dimensions of sexual orientation and the prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders in the United States," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(3), pages 468-475.
    • Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2008.152942_6
    DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2008.152942
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2008.152942
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2105/AJPH.2008.152942?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rodman E. Turpin & Natasha D. Williams & Ellesse-Roselee L. Akré & Bradley O. Boekeloo & Jessica N. Fish, 2022. "Trends in Health Care Access/Experiences: Differential Gains across Sexuality and Sex Intersections before and after Marriage Equality," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-11, April.
    2. Amerikaner, Layne & Yan, Hope Xu & Sayer, Liana C. & Doan, Long & Fish, Jessica N. & Drotning, Kelsey J. & Rinderknecht, R. Gordon, 2023. "Blurred border or safe harbor? Emotional well-being among sexual and gender minority adults working from home during COVID-19," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    3. Kamila A Alexander & Ellen M Volpe & Sarah Abboud & Jacquelyn C Campbell, 2016. "Reproductive coercion, sexual risk behaviours and mental health symptoms among young low‐income behaviourally bisexual women: implications for nursing practice," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(23-24), pages 3533-3544, December.
    4. Hatzenbuehler, Mark L. & McLaughlin, Katie A. & Xuan, Ziming, 2012. "Social networks and risk for depressive symptoms in a national sample of sexual minority youth," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(7), pages 1184-1191.
    5. Carpenter, Christopher S. & Gonzales, Gilbert & McKay, Tara & Sansone, Dario, 2020. "Effects of the Affordable Care Act Dependent Coverage Mandate on Health Insurance Coverage for Individuals in Same-Sex Couples," IZA Discussion Papers 13119, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Mishel Emma, 2019. "Intersections between Sexual Identity, Sexual Attraction, and Sexual Behavior among a Nationally Representative Sample of American Men and Women," Journal of Official Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 35(4), pages 859-884, December.
    7. Joseph Slimowicz & Jedidiah Siev & Paula M. Brochu, 2020. "Impact of Status-Based Rejection Sensitivity on Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Gay Men," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-10, February.
    8. Jiaxiu Liu & Xiaoni Zhong & Zhuo Lu & Bin Peng & Yan Zhang & Hao Liang & Jianghong Dai & Juying Zhang & Ailong Huang, 2020. "Anxiety and Depression Associated with Anal Sexual Practices among HIV-Negative Men Who Have Sex with Men in Western China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-17, January.
    9. Hatzenbuehler, Mark L. & Rutherford, Caroline & McKetta, Sarah & Prins, Seth J. & Keyes, Katherine M., 2020. "Structural stigma and all-cause mortality among sexual minorities: Differences by sexual behavior?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    10. Marius Baranauskas & Ingrida Kupčiūnaitė & Rimantas Stukas, 2022. "Psychoactive Substance Effect on Mental Health and Well-Being Focusing on Student-Aged Lithuanian Cohort of Sexual Minorities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-16, October.
    11. Francisco Perales, 2016. "The Costs of Being “Different”: Sexual Identity and Subjective Wellbeing over the Life Course," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(2), pages 827-849, June.
    12. Teo, Celine & Chum, Antony, 2020. "The effect of neighbourhood cohesion on mental health across sexual orientations: A longitudinal study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    13. Meryem Vural-Batik, 2020. "The Effectiveness of the Dealing with Homophobia Psycho-Education Program on Psychological Counselor Candidates," Higher Education Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 10(3), pages 1-1, September.
    14. Powdthavee, Nattavudh & Wooden, Mark, 2015. "Life satisfaction and sexual minorities: Evidence from Australia and the United Kingdom," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 107-126.
    15. Cristiano Scandurra & Andrea Pennasilico & Concetta Esposito & Fabrizio Mezza & Roberto Vitelli & Vincenzo Bochicchio & Nelson Mauro Maldonato & Anna Lisa Amodeo, 2020. "Minority Stress and Mental Health in Italian Bisexual People," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-17, April.
    16. Rui Luo & Vincent M.B. Silenzio & Yunxiang Huang & Xi Chen & Dan Luo, 2020. "The Disparities in Mental Health Between Gay and Bisexual Men Following Positive HIV Diagnosis in China: A One-Year Follow-Up Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-14, May.
    17. Roger L Scott & Gerri Lasiuk & Colleen Norris, 2016. "The relationship between sexual orientation and depression in a national population sample," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(23-24), pages 3522-3532, December.
    18. Cristiano Scandurra & Concetta Esposito & Francesco Fantacci & Lorenzo Borrello & Vincenzo Bochicchio & Daniel Giunti & Paolo Antonelli, 2023. "Social Support, Identity Affirmation, and Psychological Well-Being: A Developmental and Intersectional Comparison between Italian Cisgender and Non-Binary People with Bisexual Orientation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-16, February.
    19. Hatzenbuehler, Mark L. & Bellatorre, Anna & Lee, Yeonjin & Finch, Brian K. & Muennig, Peter & Fiscella, Kevin, 2014. "Structural stigma and all-cause mortality in sexual minority populations," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 33-41.
    20. Ge Huang & Mengsi Cai & Xin Lu, 2019. "Inferring Opinions and Behavioral Characteristics of Gay Men with Large Scale Multilingual Text from Blued," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-21, September.
    21. Billy A Caceres & Abraham Brody & Deborah Chyun, 2016. "Recommendations for cardiovascular disease research with lesbian, gay and bisexual adults," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(23-24), pages 3728-3742, December.
    22. Ning Hsieh & Hui Liu, 2019. "Bisexuality, Union Status, and Gender Composition of the Couple: Reexamining Marital Advantage in Health," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(5), pages 1791-1825, October.
    23. Yoo Mi Jeong & Cindy B Veldhuis & Frances Aranda & Tonda L Hughes, 2016. "Racial/ethnic differences in unmet needs for mental health and substance use treatment in a community‐based sample of sexual minority women," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(23-24), pages 3557-3569, December.
    24. Persson, Tonje J. & Pfaus, James G. & Ryder, Andrew G., 2015. "Explaining mental health disparities for non-monosexual women: Abuse history and risky sex, or the burdens of non-disclosure?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 366-373.
    25. Engstrom, Curtiss W. & West, Brady T. & Schepis, Ty S. & McCabe, Sean Esteban, 2024. "Does the approach used to measure sexual identity affect estimates of health disparities differently by race? A randomized experiment from the National Survey of Family Growth," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 350(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2008.152942_6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Christopher F Baum (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.apha.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.