Are Black Sexual Minority Adults More Likely to Report Higher Levels of Psychological Distress than White Sexual Minority Adults? Findings from the 2013–2017 National Health Interview Survey

Elbert Almazan

doi:10.3390/socsci8010014

Abstract

This study examined whether the association between sexual minority status and psychological distress is different between Black adults and White adults. The intersectionality framework suggests that Black sexual minority adults are more likely to report psychological distress than White sexual minority adults. Using data from the 2013–2017 National Health Interview Survey, multinomial logistic regression was conducted to examine the associations among race, sexual orientation identity, and psychological distress in a large representative U.S. sample that included a large number of Black sexual minority adults and White sexual minority adults. Results indicated that the association between sexual minority status and psychological distress was not significantly different between Black adults and White adults. Future research should examine resources that may buffer risk for psychological distress among Black sexual minority adults.

Highlights

Studies on sexual orientation inequities in health have taken advantage of the large representative sample of sexual minority adults available from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).A couple of studies using the NHIS demonstrated that sexual minority adults are more likely to report significantly higher levels of psychological distress than heterosexual adults (Cochran et al 2017; Gonzales et al 2016)
2.8% of the sample was categorized as having sexual minority status; 95.9% of the sample was categorized as having heterosexual status; 11.2% of the sample was categorized as Black; 69.5% of the sample was categorized as White; 54.1% of the sample was categorized as women; 45.9% of the sample was categorized as men; 3.6% of the sample was categorized as having high psychological distress; 17.4% of the sample was categorized as having moderate psychological distress; 79% of the sample was categorized as having low psychological distress
Sexual minority status was associated with increased risk for high and moderate psychological distress for both Black adults and White adults

Summary

Introduction

A couple of studies using the NHIS demonstrated that sexual minority adults are more likely to report significantly higher levels of psychological distress than heterosexual adults (Cochran et al 2017; Gonzales et al 2016). Using a large representative sample of Black sexual minority adults and White sexual minority adults from the NHIS, this study examined whether Black sexual minority adults were more likely to report higher levels of psychological distress than White sexual minority adults. The minority stress framework suggests that stressors associated with a minority sexual orientation such as discrimination and social rejection place sexual minorities at greater risk for health problems compared to heterosexuals (Meyer 1995; Meyer 2003). Since persons with multiple minority social statuses are exposed to more stressors, they are at greater risk for health problems than persons with fewer minority social statuses

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