Distribution and Prevalence of Health in a National Probability Sample of Three Cohorts of Sexual Minority Adults in the United States.

Abstract

Purpose: This study examined the health profile of a national probability sample of three cohorts of sexual minority people, and the ways that indicators of health vary among sexual minority people across age cohorts and other defining sociodemographic characteristics, including sexual identity, gender identity, and race/ethnicity. Methods: The Generations Study, the first national probability sample of three age cohorts of sexual minority people (n = 1507) in the United States collected in 2016-2017, was used to examine general health profiles across several broad domains: alcohol and drug abuse; general health, physical health, and health disability; mental health and psychological distress; and positive well-being, including general happiness, social well-being, and life satisfaction. Results: There were no cohort differences in substance abuse or positive well-being. The younger cohort was physically healthier, but had worse psychological health than both the middle and older cohorts. Conclusions: Cohort differences in physical health were consistent with patterns of aging, whereas for mental health, there were distinct cohort differences among sexual minority people. Given that compromised mental health in the early life course creates trajectories of vulnerability, these results point to the need for mental health prevention and intervention for younger cohorts of sexual minority people.