Investigating the Associations of Sexual Minority Stressors and Incident Hypertension in a Community Sample of Sexual Minority Adults

Abstract

Background Sexual minority adults are at higher risk of hypertension than their heterosexual counterparts. Sexual minority stressors (i.e., unique stressors attributed to sexual minority identity) are associated with a variety of poor mental and physical health outcomes. Previous research has not tested associations between sexual minority stressors and incident hypertension among sexual minority adults. Purpose To examine the associations between sexual minority stressors and incident hypertension among sexual minority adults assigned female sex at birth. Methods Using data from a longitudinal study, we examined associations between three sexual minority stressors and self-reported hypertension. We ran multiple logistic regression models to estimate the associations between sexual minority stressors and hypertension. We conducted exploratory analyses to determine whether these associations differed by race/ethnicity and sexual identity (e.g., lesbian/gay vs. bisexual). Results The sample included 380 adults, mean age 38.4 (± 12.81) years. Approximately 54.5% were people of color and 93.9% were female-identified. Mean follow-up was 7.0 (± 0.6) years; during which 12.4% were diagnosed with hypertension. We found that a 1-standard deviation increase in internalized homophobia was associated with higher odds of developing hypertension (AOR 1.48, 95% Cl: 1.06–2.07). Stigma consciousness (AOR 0.85, 95% CI: 0.56–1.26) and experiences of discrimination (AOR 1.07, 95% CI: 0.72–1.52) were not associated with hypertension. The associations of sexual minority stressors with hypertension did not differ by race/ethnicity or sexual identity. Conclusions This is the first study to examine the associations between sexual minority stressors and incident hypertension in sexual minority adults. Implications for future studies are highlighted.