Self-Rated Health by Sexual Orientation and Sexual Attraction of Non-Pregnant Women Age 25-45, 2011-2015 NSFG

• In Event: 3129 - Section on Medical Sociology Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 22. Topics in Health and Sexuality

Abstract

Ample research examining the lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) community has found associations between their sexual minority status and poorer health when compared to their heterosexual counterparts. This paper contributes to that literature by using the 2011-2015 data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), allowing for analyses of a nationally representative sample of United States adults. I analyzed the general self-rated health of non-pregnant, females age 25-45 using logistic regression to show how self-rated health differs for them by sexual orientation identity and by more detailed categories of sexual attraction. Those who identify as homosexual/gay/lesbian do not differ in their self-rated health from heterosexual women before or after controlling for demographic characteristics, resources, or other health indicators or when not accounting for them. However, bisexual women do show significantly lower odds of reporting excellent/very good/good health (vs. fair/poor health) compared to heterosexual women even when controlling for those factors. Analyses by sexual attraction show that those attracted equally to males and females as well as those attracted to mostly females, when compared to those only attracted to males, share the same results as bisexuals compared to heterosexuals. Overall, the results of this study contribute to the expanding literature on LGB women’s health by examining two components of sexual orientation—identity and attraction—and showing nuances in how these characteristics can influence self-rated health.

Author

• Julia Kay Wolf, West Virginia University