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Social Change and the Health of Sexual Minority Individuals: Do the Effects of Minority Stress and Community Connectedness Vary by Age Cohort?

Frost, David; Meyer, Ilan; Lin, Andy; Wilson, Bianca; Lightfoot, Marguerita; Russell, Stephen; Hammack, Phillip; (2022) Social Change and the Health of Sexual Minority Individuals: Do the Effects of Minority Stress and Community Connectedness Vary by Age Cohort? Archives of Sexual Behavior , 51 pp. 2299-2316. 10.1007/s10508-022-02288-6. Green open access

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Abstract

This study examined the extent to which social stress stemming from a stigmatized social status (i.e., minority stress) was associated with three domains of health in younger as compared with older age cohorts of sexual minority individuals. Data were analyzed from the Generations Study, a longitudinal study using a probability sample (N = 1518) of age cohorts of sexual minority individuals in the USA. Exposure to a variety of minority stressors was associated with poorer health for all age cohorts. We hypothesized that because of improved social and legal environments in recent years, the associations between minority stress and health would be diminished in the younger cohort. As expected, we found that the associations between some minority stressors and health outcomes were diminished in the younger cohort compared to older cohorts. Positive associations between community connectedness and mental health and social well-being were observed for all participants but were attenuated in the younger cohort. Findings demonstrate the continuing negative association between minority stress and health among sexual minorities, which, despite some attenuation, persists even for young cohorts of sexual minority individuals in a more equal and accepting social climate.

Type: Article
Title: Social Change and the Health of Sexual Minority Individuals: Do the Effects of Minority Stress and Community Connectedness Vary by Age Cohort?
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1007/s10508-022-02288-6
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02288-6
Language: English
Additional information: © 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords: Discrimination, Stigma, Mental health, Physical health, Social well-being, Sexual orientation, Life course
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10144250
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