1 Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, T1K 3M4, Canada. l.petterson@uleth.ca.
2 Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada.
3 Underserved Populations Research Program, Child, Youth and Family Division, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
4 Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
5 Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, T1K 3M4, Canada.

The Relationship Between Indicators of Depression and Anxiety and Sexual Orientation in Canadian Women.

Arch Sex Behav. 2018 05;47(4):1173-1182

Authors: Petterson LJ, VanderLaan DP, Persson TJ, Vasey PL

Abstract

Previous studies examining the associations between women's sexual orientation and mental health have obtained inconsistent results. Whereas some studies have suggested that status as a lesbian or bisexual woman may be associated with greater mental health risk, others have suggested that bisexual women may be specifically vulnerable to mental health problems. The current study examined two competing models in a non-clinical sample of Canadian women (N = 278). The first model predicted that women who reported bisexual attraction would endorse more indicators of depression and anxiety compared to women who reported monosexuality (either same- or opposite-sex attraction). The second model predicted that women who reported relatively greater same-sex attraction would exhibit elevated indicators of depression and anxiety compared to women who reported opposite-sex attraction. Consistent with Model 1, greater bisexual attraction predicted greater endorsement of indicators of depression and anxiety compared to greater same-sex or opposite-sex attraction. These findings suggest that, in women, bisexuality may be associated with higher risk of depression and anxiety than monosexuality. Future research may benefit from exploring risk factors potentially unique to the mental health of bisexual women.

PMID: 29075928 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]