Gender Differences in Minority Stress, Sleep, and Psychological Distress among Plurisexual Young Adults

• In Event: Understanding the Developmental Context of Sleep Health among Sexual and Gender Minority Youth

Abstract

The transition to adulthood from adolescence is a key period for the development of health behaviors and habits that influence health across the life course. Understanding sleep behavior, a critical predictor of mental health, could help explain mental health disparities among sexual minority adults, which peak during the transition to adulthood (Rice et al., 2019). Recent research shows that plurisexual (bisexual, pansexual, and queer) people are at risk for reporting fewer sleep hours and greater sleep disturbances than heterosexuals (Patterson & Potter, 2019). Stressors, including stigma-based stressors posited by the minority stress model (Meyer, 2003), can negatively impact mental health both directly and indirectly through poorer sleep (Taliaferro et al., 2017). Research shows that bisexual women, who experience worse mental health outcomes among sexual minorities, are at particular risk for poorer sleep (Patterson & Potter, 2022). The purpose of this study was to consider how gender differences in experiences of minority stressors and their influence on sleep might explain disparities in mental health.
Data come from 540 plurisexual young adults in romantic relationships between the ages of 18-26. Participants were recruited through the website Prolific and redirected to a 60-minute Qualtrics survey on minority stress, relationship dynamics, and health outcomes during the transition to adulthood. We included cisgender and transgender women (n = 314) and men (n = 128), as well as gender nonbinary young adults (n = 98).
Participants reported how many hours they usually sleep per night (range 3-12 hours, M = 7 hours). Discrimination (range 1 to 6, M = 1.67) and vigilance (M = 2.50) were measured using the Daily Heterosexist Questionnaire (Balsam et al., 2013); concealment of sexual identity (range 1 to 5, M = 1.98) and internalized homonegativity (M = 1.48) were measured with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Identity Scale (Mohr & Kendra, 2011), respectively. Controls included age, frequency of drinking per month (never to 4 or more times per week), frequency of smoking (never, less than daily, daily), and self-reported health (excellent to poor). We conducted multiple group mediation models using the sem function in Stata 16.
Results showed that there was a negative association between concealment and sleep hours for men and women, as well as a negative association between discrimination and sleep hours for women. Sleep hours were negatively associated with psychological distress only for women. The indirect effects of discrimination and concealment on psychological distress through sleep hours were only statistically significant for women.
In line with previous literature, we found that plurisexual women were at especially high risk for poor sleep and mental health outcomes. Our findings suggest that disruptions in sleep might explain how minority stressors “get under the skin” to influence mental health for plurisexual women. There may be other mechanisms than sleep that might explain this association for plurisexual men and nonbinary young adults. Our cross-sectional results among a sample of young adults in romantic relationships should be interpreted with caution, however, they point to potential key mechanisms for understanding mental health disparities among plurisexual populations. 

Authors

• Amanda Pollitt, Northern Arizona University
  Presenting Author

• Alexa Martin-Storey, Universite de Sherbrooke