Differences in Depression and Suicidal Ideation between Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005- 2016

Abstract

Importance: Research on depression and suicidal ideation of sexual minority adults is needed to guide the development of targeted mechanism research and future tailored behavioral interventions. Objective: To investigate sexual identity differences in depression and suicidal ideation among adults in the US. Design, setting, and participants: The present cross-sectional study analyzed population-based data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2005-2016). Participants included participants aged from 20 to 59 year weighted to represent approximately 788 million US adults. Exposures: Self-reported sexual identity categorized as heterosexual, gay/lesbian, bisexual, or others. Main outcomes and measures: The main outcomes were depression and suicidal ideation which defined based on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Results: Our study included 16602 participants (mean age, 39.5 years [95% CI, 39.2-39.9]; 8109 male participants [49.02%]). Male participants who identified as others had higher rate of depression than heterosexual male adults (odds ratio [OR], 3.08; 95% CI [1.06-8.99]). Bisexual male individuals had higher rate of suicidal ideation than heterosexual male participants (OR, 4.53; 95% CI [2.31-8.88]). Compared with heterosexual female participants, bisexual female had higher rate of depression (OR, 2.32; 95% CI [1.68-3.19]) and suicidal ideation (OR, 3.53; 95% CI [2.28-5.48]). There were no significant differences between gay/lesbian and their same sex heterosexual counterparts in depression and suicidal ideation. Conclusions and relevance: Results of this cross-sectional study suggested that bisexual female participants and others group of male participants had higher rate of depression compared with their counterpart heterosexual participants, furthermore, bisexual male/female participants had higher rate of suicidal ideation than those of heterosexual participants. There is a need for development of tailored interventions to depression symptoms of sexual minority individuals. Future cohort research is needed to examine factors that might contribute to these results among sexual minority individuals.