Explaining mental health disparities for non-monosexual women: Abuse history and risky sex, or the burdens of non-disclosure?

Persson, Tonje J.; Pfaus, James G.; Ryder, Andrew G.

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.08.038

Cited by 52 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 55 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Among cisgender women, those who endorsed queer or Bother^sexual orientations evidenced higher rates of both psychiatric problems and drug or alcohol abuse. Previous literature has highlighted that bisexual women had more mental health problems than lesbian or heterosexual women, 25 something not found in our study, yet few studies offer queer or other sexual orientation as an option. It is possible that offering additional options for sexual orientation categories (e.g., queer or Bother^) will allow us to tease apart nuances in sexual orientation and associated health disparities.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 61%

Mental and Physical Health among Homeless Sexual and Gender Minorities in a Major Urban US City

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sexual and gender minorities have been shown to have greater rates of mental health, substance use disorders, and specific types of health problems compared to heterosexuals. Among the homeless population in several US urban areas, sexual and gender minorities are overrepresented but few studies have examined the mental and physical health status of homeless sexual and gender minorities, with studies on homeless gender minorities being particularly hard to find. Using survey data obtained from the city and county of San Francisco (2015 Homeless Survey), this study examined differences in causes of homelessness, physical and mental health problems, and domestic violence among homeless sexual and gender minorities and their heterosexual and cisgender (i.e., non-transgender) counterparts, respectively. Lesbians and bisexual women, and gay and bisexual men did not differ from their cisgender heterosexual counterparts. Cisgender men who identified as queer or Bother^in response to sexual orientation questions had higher rates of psychiatric problems and posttraumatic stress disorder, while cisgender women who identified as queer or Bother^had higher rates of psychiatric problems and drug and alcohol use. Transgender men who were homeless were found to be particularly at risk for physical health problems, mental health problems, and domestic violence or abuse. Transgender women were more likely to report posttraumatic stress disorder. This study suggests that transgender men and cisgender sexual minority men and women who identify as queer or Bother^are groups among the homeless that may benefit from increased outreach and services.

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 61%

Mental and Physical Health among Homeless Sexual and Gender Minorities in a Major Urban US City

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Given that 62% of our sample's sexual minority women were bisexual, the current findings may be more specific to bisexual women. Bisexuals are believed to experience the highest risk of psychopathology compared to other sexual orientation sub-groups (Bostwick et al, 2010;Persson et al, 2014). By the same logic, very few bisexual men participated, rendering our results more applicable to gay men comprising 80% of our sample's sexual minority men.…”

Section: Strengths and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 70%

Gonads and strife: Sex hormones vary according to sexual orientation for women and stress indices for both sexes

Juster

Almeida

Cardoso

et al. 2017

Psychoneuroendocrinology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a b s t r a c tThis study assessed sexual orientation and psychobiological stress indices in relation to salivary sex hormones as part of a well-validated laboratory-based stress paradigm. Participants included 87 healthy adults that were on average 25 years old who self-identified as lesbian/bisexual women (n = 20), heterosexual women (n = 21), gay/bisexual men (n = 26), and heterosexual men (n = 20). Two saliva samples were collected fifteen minutes before and fifteen minutes after exposure to a modified Trier Social Stress Test to determine testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone concentrations via enzyme-immune assaying. Mean sex hormones were further tested in association to stress indices related to cortisol systemic output (area under the curve with respect to ground) based on ten measures throughout the two-hour visit, allostatic load indexed using 21 biomarkers, and perceived stress assessed using a well-validated questionnaire. Results revealed that lesbian/bisexual women had higher overall testosterone and progesterone concentrations than heterosexual women, while no differences were found among gay/bisexual men in comparison to heterosexual men. Lesbian/bisexual women and heterosexual men showed positive associations between mean estradiol concentrations and allostatic load, while gay/bisexual men and heterosexual women showed positive associations between mean testosterone and cortisol systemic output. In summary, sex hormone variations appear to vary according to sexual orientation among women, but also as a function of cortisol systemic output, allostatic load, and perceived stress for both sexes. (R.-P. Juster). explanations of non-heterosexual behavior have often hypothesized a dysregulation of sex-specific hormone profiles, resulting in anomalies in the organizational and activational effects of these hormones on the neurodevelopment of circuitry underlying species-specific sexual behavior. Animal models involving prenatal androgen deficits, for example, were first believed to cause male homosexuality (Phoenix et al., 1959), while prenatal androgen overabundance presumably resulted in female homosexuality. Our study endeavours to show that such sex hormone differences assumed to be attributable to sexual orientation are also modulated by unexplored stress phenomena.Advances in behavioral neuroscience has led to the introduction of sophisticated genetic models involving non-functional androgen receptors, further allowing researchers to characterize the relation-Konstanzer Online-Publikations-System (KOPS) URL: http://nbn-resolving. de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-2-1f6t7wu8qvgcl6 Erschienen in: Psychoneuroendocrinology ; 72 (2016). -S. 119-130 https://dx.

show abstract

“…[3][4][5] Similarly, others have attempted to be more inclusive in their labeling by considering monosexual identities (e.g., heterosexual and exclusively lesbian) and nonmonosexual identities (e.g., mostly lesbian, bisexual, and mostly heterosexual). 6 The differing classification of sexual identity is critical to consider, as it may contribute to differential findings regarding health behavior outcomes. 7 Most studies to date have focused on comparisons of SMW (defined broadly) to heterosexual women.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Health Disparities Among Exclusively Lesbian, Mostly Lesbian, and Bisexual Young Women

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose: Health disparities have been identified between groups of diverse young sexual minority women (SMW) and heterosexual women. This approach may generate sufficient group sizes for statistical analyses but obscures important differences. Moreover, some young women may not identify as ''lesbian'' or ''bisexual'' but somewhere in between. This study examined health and sexual minority identity-specific outcomes among three groups of SMW-women who identify as ''exclusively lesbian,'' ''mostly lesbian,'' and ''bisexual.'' Methods: Participants were 990 young (18-30 years old) SMW (exclusively lesbian: n = 305, mostly lesbian: n = 133, bisexual: n = 552) who completed an online survey, including information about mental and physical health symptoms, hazardous drinking, and identity uncertainty. Those who reported alcohol use in the past 30 days responded to questions about their alcohol use and alcohol-related negative consequences. Results: Controlling for demographic differences, health outcomes varied significantly by identity. Mostly lesbian and bisexual women reported the most depression, anxiety, and physical health symptoms; mostly lesbian women reported the highest levels of hazardous drinking. Among those who reported drinking, mostly lesbian women drank the most frequently and reported the most alcohol-related consequences. Mostly lesbian women reported the most identity uncertainty. Conclusion: Mostly lesbian women were similar to bisexual women on several health outcomes. They appear unique, however, in drinking behavior and identity uncertainty. Collapsing across identities in health research may affect outcomes.

show abstract

Explaining mental health disparities for non-monosexual women: Abuse history and risky sex, or the burdens of non-disclosure?

Cited by 52 publications

References 55 publications

Mental and Physical Health among Homeless Sexual and Gender Minorities in a Major Urban US City

Mental and Physical Health among Homeless Sexual and Gender Minorities in a Major Urban US City

Gonads and strife: Sex hormones vary according to sexual orientation for women and stress indices for both sexes

Health Disparities Among Exclusively Lesbian, Mostly Lesbian, and Bisexual Young Women

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About