Heterogeneity among Sexual and Gender Minority Adults by Age: The Kids are Not Alright Original Research
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Keywords
Sexual Orientation, Emotional Wellbeing, Health Disparity, Lifespan
Abstract
Introduction: Sexual and gender minorities (SGM) experience more threats to their wellbeing than their straight peers. However, it is unclear whether there are within-group differences among SGM adults and whether these interact with chronological age.
Methods: To examine SGM heterogeneity by age, we used data from the 2023 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. We included 23,187 adults (M age= 46.2±19.6) identifying as SGM (24.1% gay/lesbian; 38.9% bisexual; 21.5% other sexual orientation; 15.6% questioning). Measures indexing emotional wellbeing were examined using 4 (Age) by 4 (SGM) ANOVAs and chi-square tests, as appropriate.
Results: Significant age and SGM main effects were qualified by interactions between age and SGM. Across measures, emerging adults and established adults often reported the highest challenges to wellbeing, particularly those who identified as bisexual or gay/lesbian. In contrast, across age groups, those who were questioning their SGM or identified as some other SGM status were often the least emotionally distressed.
Conclusions: Our study highlights the important mental health disparities within groups of SGM adults, especially among emerging and established adults. We advocate for increased mental health services and continued inclusion of SGM measures in publicly funded health surveillance surveys.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright, 2025 by the authors. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Julie Hicks Patrick, West Virginia University
Julie Hicks Patrick, PhD is Professor of Psychology and PI of the AGE-ADAR Scholars Program at WVU.
Payton Radcliffe, West Virginia Univesity
Payton Radcliffe is a first-year graduate student in the Lifespan Development area of Psychology, West Virginia University.
C. Cassie Heilman, West Virginia University
Cassie Heilman is a first year graduate student in the Lifespan Development area of Psychology at West Virginia University
Leslie E. Tower, West Virginia University
Leslie Tower is Director of the Women’s Resource Center and Professor and Assessment Coordinator for the School of Social Work at West Virginia University