Sexual Minority Women in Longitudinal Survey Research: Is Attrition a Problem?

Abstract

As more longitudinal surveys collect information on sexual orientation, evaluating the quality of these data and understanding how sexual minorities engage with the survey process are increasingly important endeavors. This study constitutes the first systematic analysis of sexual orientation as a predictor of attrition from longitudinal surveys. Drawing upon the minority stress model, we developed testable hypotheses about how sexual identity and sexual identity change relate to panel attrition. These hypotheses were subsequently tested using data from two national cohorts of Australian women from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (one born 1973-1978, n = 11,262, and one born 1989-1995, n = 16,689). In the older cohort, sexual minority women were more likely to attrit from the survey than exclusively heterosexual women-largely due to noncontact rather than noncooperation. The associations faded once sociodemographic and health-related covariates were included in the models. Further, higher rates of noncontact were observed among women who changed their sexual identity in a more same-sex-oriented direction, compared to women with a stable sexual identity. None of these associations were apparent in the younger cohort. Taken together, our results suggest that sexual minority status may be a risk factor for panel attrition among older but not younger cohorts of women, and that improved efforts to locate and contact participants who are generally vulnerable could increase the retention of sexual minorities in longitudinal studies. Effect sizes were nevertheless small, suggesting that existing research on sexual orientation using longitudinal surveys is unlikely to be biased by non-random attrition of non-heterosexual individuals.

Sexual Fluidity and Psychological Distress: What Happens When Young Women’s Sexual Identities Change?

“…Response rates for the waves used in our analyses, based on the Wave 1 sample, were as follows: 70% (Wave 2), 55% (Wave 3), and 50% (Wave 5). Sexual identity does not appear to be systematically related to attrition among members of this cohort (Campbell, Perales, and Baxter 2020).…”

“I Know Myself Again, Which Makes Me Motivated for Life”: Feasibility and Acceptability of Using Experience Sampling Methods With Trauma-Exposed Sexual Minority Women

“…In addition to participant burden in ESM designs with general populations, trauma-exposed SMW may experience unique barriers to participating in ESM research. Compared to heterosexual women, SMW, as members of a marginalized group, may be more challenging to retain in longitudinal surveys due to stress related to revealing their stigmatized sexual or gender identity and living in regions with high structural stigma (Campbell et al, 2020; Downing & Rosenthal, 2020; Lewis, Dawson, et al, 2021). For instance, SMW are more likely than heterosexual women to report interpersonal violence, financial insecurity, unemployment, housing instability (Campbell et al, 2020; Meyer, 2003; Porsch et al, 2022; Scheer et al, 2020), and incarceration (Meyer et al, 2017).…”

Australia's LGBTIQ Research Data Landscape

“…(Hillier et al 2003; Loxton et al 2018; Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health 2020; Campbell, Perales and Baxter 2020; Perales et al 2021b)…”