Sexual Orientation, Stress and Health

• In Event: 038 - Section on Sociology of Population Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 05. Demographic and Socioeconomic Associations with Physical and Mental Health

Abstract

A 2011 Institute of Medicine report documented a variety of areas of health in which sexual minorities are at a disadvantage when compared to their straight counterparts. However, understanding the extent and the sources of the disparities has been hindered by the lack of nationally representative data on the lesbian, gay and bisexual populations. In 2013, the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), which collects health data on the civilian noninstitutionalized population in the US, included questions on sexual orientation yielding 34,557 sample adults, aged 18 and over, including 804 who self-identified as being lesbian/gay or bisexual. Weighted results find that among all US adults aged 18 and over, 96.6% identified as straight, 1.6% identified as gay or lesbian and 0.07% identified as bisexual. The remaining 1.1% identified as “something else”. The present study examines differences in the effect of stress in general and financial strain in particular for sexual minorities compared to sexual majority groups on health and factors associated with it. Health variables include health-related behaviors such as smoking and alcohol use, health indicators such as self-described health status and experience of serious psychological distress, and access/use of health care. Preliminary descriptive analyses of these data have indicated some differences between the gay/lesbian population and the bisexual population on health-related behaviors, health outcomes and health care access/use. Differences also have been found between men and women. To the extent possible, the present paper examines subgroup differences including race/ethnicity.

Author

• Virginia S. Cain, Centers for Disease and Control Prevention