Disparities in Adverse Childhood Experiences among Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Adults: Results from a Multi-State Probability-Based Sample

Abstract

BackgroundAdverse childhood experiences (e.g., physical, sexual and emotional abuse, neglect, exposure to domestic violence, parental discord, familial mental illness, incarceration and substance abuse) constitute a major public health problem in the United States. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) scale is a standardized measure that captures multiple developmental risk factors beyond sexual, physical and emotional abuse. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (i.e., sexual minority) individuals may experience disproportionately higher prevalence of adverse childhood experiences.PurposeTo examine, using the ACE scale, prevalence of childhood physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and childhood household dysfunction among sexual minority and heterosexual adults.MethodsAnalyses were conducted using a probability-based sample of data pooled from three U.S. states’ Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) surveys (Maine, Washington, Wisconsin) that administered the ACE scale and collected information on sexual identity (n = 22,071).ResultsCompared with heterosexual respondents, gay/lesbian and bisexual individuals experienced increased odds of six of eight and seven of eight adverse childhood experiences, respectively. Sexual minority persons had higher rates of adverse childhood experiences (IRR = 1.66 gay/lesbian; 1.58 bisexual) compared to their heterosexual peers.ConclusionsSexual minority individuals have increased exposure to multiple developmental risk factors beyond physical, sexual and emotional abuse. We recommend the use of the Adverse Childhood Experiences scale in future research examining health disparities among this minority population.

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Resilience: Addressing the Unique Needs of Adolescents

“…5 Furthermore, certain subgroups of adolescents face heightened risks, including youth who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) and those who are incarcerated or involved in the juvenile justice system. [5][6][7] Despite the high prevalence, the majority of adolescents with trauma exposure do not receive needed health services that are critical to identifying and addressing these concerns. 8 The effects of trauma during childhood and adolescence have impacts on adolescent health and educational status, including a greater likelihood of repeating a grade in school, lower resilience, increased risk for learning and behavioral issues, suicidal ideation, and early initiation of sexual activity and pregnancy.…”

Biological and social aspects of human sexual orientation: chemocommunicative hypothesis

“…Негативный опыт (физическое, сексуальное, эмо-циональное насилие, бытовые злоупотребления и др. ), приобретенный в детстве, повышает вероятность воз-никновения «нетрадиционной» СОи [24,25]. В свою очередь в группах сексуальных меньшинств выявлен вы-сокий риск возникновения умственных расстройств [26].…”

“…Такая оценка может быть существенно искажена по целому ряду причин со-циального и личного характера участников анкетирова-ния из-за чего возможная роль наследственного мате-риала маскируется влиянием социальной среды. Тем не менее сравнение частот в выборках, сформированных по разным принципам, выявляет интересные закономерно-сти, например, связь гомо-и бисексуальности с наси-лием (физическим, психическим или эмоциональным) в детском возрасте [24,25]. Гораздо реже для оценки СОи используют более прямые измерения (разными методами) сексуального возбуждения испытуемых при показе, например, фотографий с эротическим содержа-нием [4].…”

“…Действие социальных факторов окружающей среды существенно усугубляет или сглаживает это влияние. На основе дан-ных литературы [24,25] можно полагать, что неблаго-приятное воздействие социальной среды в критические периоды развития (искусственно создаваемая сенсорная депривация при перенасыщенности социальной инфор-мацией, ошибки гендерного воспитания и т. п.)…”

A review of the syndemic components of male same-sex intimate partner violence

“…Gay men appear to have more negative physical and mental health outcomes than the general population which are hypothesized to be the result of the stigma, discrimination, and internalized homophobia of many gay men. [28,44] Specific outcomes include a significant correlation between MSSIPV and depression, [45] sexual compulsivity, [34] childhood sexual abuse, [22,46] substance abuse, [32,47,48] and HIV infection. [34,[49][50][51] The syndemic factors of sexual compulsivity, depression, childhood sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, and polydrug use have all been reported to have strong associations with high-risk sexual behavior and HIV-infection.…”