Abstract
Sexual minority identity (bisexual, lesbian) is a known risk factor for depression in women. This study examined a facet of minority stress prevalent among women-sexual identity mobility-as an identity-related contributor to higher levels of depressive symptoms. We used three waves of data from the Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women study, a longitudinal study of sexual minority women (N=306). Random effects OLS regression models were constructed to examine the effect of sexual identity changes on depressive symptoms. We found that 25.6% of the sample reported a sexual identity change between Wave I and Wave II, and 24.9% reported a sexual identity change between Waves II and III. Women who reported a change in sexual identity also reported more depressive symptoms subsequent to identity change. This effect was moderated by the number of years participants had reported their baseline identity and by whether the participant had initiated a romantic relationship with a male partner.
Highlights
Sexual minority identity is a known risk factor for depression in women
This study focuses on an understudied aspect of minority stress prevalent among women— sexual-identity mobility—as a potentially important factor that contributes to depressive symptoms
Using data from the Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women (CHLEW) longitudinal study of adult sexual-minority women, this study investigated the relationship between sexual-identity mobility and psychological distress using depressive symptoms as the mental health indicator
Summary
Sexual minority identity (bisexual, lesbian) is a known risk factor for depression in women. The first model includes all simple associations, including sociodemographic characteristics, sexual-identity mobility indicators, prior depressive symptoms, number of years with most recent selfascribed sexual identity, disclosure to family members, and changes in the gender/sex of relationship partners.
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