Li Gu, Pollitt Amanda M, Russell Stephen T
Division of Family Studies and Human Development, Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
Department of Psychology, Free School Lane, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3RQ, UK.
Arch Sex Behav. 2016 Apr;45(3):697-711. doi: 10.1007/s10508-015-0515-3. Epub 2015 Apr 14.
Sexual minority individuals are at an elevated risk for depression compared to their heterosexual counterparts, yet less is known about how depression status varies across sexual minority subgroups (i.e., mostly heterosexuals, bisexuals, and lesbians and gay men). Moreover, studies on the role of young adult gender nonconformity in the relation between sexual orientation and depression are scarce and have yielded mixed findings. The current study examined the disparities between sexual minorities and heterosexuals during young adulthood in concurrent depression near the beginning of young adulthood and prospective depression 6 years later, paying attention to the diversity within sexual minority subgroups and the role of gender nonconformity. Drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 9421), we found that after accounting for demographics, sampling weight, and sampling design, self-identified mostly heterosexual and bisexual young adults, but not lesbians and gay men, reported significantly higher concurrent depression compared to heterosexuals; moreover, only mostly heterosexual young adults were more depressed than heterosexuals 6 years later. Furthermore, while young adult gender nonconforming behavior was associated with more concurrent depression regardless of sexual orientation, its negative impact on mental health decreased over time. Surprisingly, previous gender nonconformity predicted decreased prospective depression among lesbians and gay men whereas, among heterosexual individuals, increased gender nonconformity was not associated with prospective depression. Together, the results suggested the importance of investigating diversity and the influence of young adult gender nonconformity in future research on the mental health of sexual minorities.
与异性恋者相比，性少数群体个体患抑郁症的风险更高，但对于抑郁症状况在性少数亚群体（即大多为异性恋者、双性恋者以及女同性恋者和男同性恋者）中如何变化，我们了解得更少。此外，关于青年期性别非一致性在性取向与抑郁症关系中的作用的研究很少，且结果不一。本研究调查了青年期开始时同时期抑郁症以及6年后的前瞻性抑郁症方面性少数群体与异性恋者之间的差异，关注性少数亚群体内部的多样性以及性别非一致性的作用。从全国青少年健康纵向研究（N = 9421）中抽取样本，我们发现，在考虑人口统计学、抽样权重和抽样设计后，自我认定为大多为异性恋和双性恋的青年成年人，但不包括女同性恋者和男同性恋者，报告的同时期抑郁症显著高于异性恋者；此外，6年后只有大多为异性恋的青年成年人比异性恋者更抑郁。此外，尽管青年期性别非一致行为无论性取向如何都与更多的同时期抑郁症相关，但其对心理健康的负面影响会随着时间减弱。令人惊讶的是，以前的性别非一致性预示女同性恋者和男同性恋者的前瞻性抑郁症会减少，而在异性恋个体中，性别非一致性增加与前瞻性抑郁症无关。总之，结果表明在未来性少数群体心理健康研究中调查多样性以及青年期性别非一致性影响的重要性。
