Institute for Social Science Research, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Australian Research Council of Excellence on Children and Families over the Life Course, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Gerontologist. 2023 Feb 25;63(2):328-337. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnac058.
The aim of this study is to contribute to the literature on variation in later-life outcomes by sexual identity. Drawing on the Iridescent Life Course framework, we examined differences in loneliness trajectories, and tested the roles of social connectedness and support, and socioeconomic and health statuses in explaining any observed disparities.
Using growth models, we analyzed 19 years of data (2001-2019) from adults aged 50 years and older from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey (n = 5,500 individuals), where a question on sexual identity was asked twice in the study.
One percent of our sample reported a change in their sexual identity, which we grouped with individuals who reported as bisexual. Our sample comprised of 45.3% heterosexual men, 52.2% heterosexual women, 0.6% gay men, 0.6% lesbian women, 0.6% bisexual-plus men, and 0.6% bisexual-plus women. We found bisexual-plus men were vulnerable to loneliness as they aged. This group had the highest levels of loneliness at age 50, and differences compared with heterosexual men persisted over time. Loneliness of bisexual-plus men increased steeply from age 70. Socioeconomic and health statuses did not explain the increased loneliness of older bisexual-plus men. Lower social support and connectedness partly accounted for these disparities.
Findings are discussed with regards to existing research and theories on social disadvantage and resilience over the life course. We expand knowledge on factors explaining loneliness and how it varies in women and men by sexual identity.
本研究旨在通过性认同为晚年生活结果的变化提供文献贡献。借鉴彩虹生命历程框架，我们检验了孤独轨迹的差异，并测试了社会联系和支持以及社会经济和健康状况在解释任何观察到的差异方面的作用。
使用增长模型，我们分析了来自澳大利亚家庭、收入和劳动力动态调查（n = 5500 人）中年龄在 50 岁及以上的成年人 19 年的数据（2001-2019 年），该研究两次询问了性认同问题。
我们的样本中有 1%报告了性认同的变化，我们将其与报告为双性恋的个体归为一组。我们的样本包括 45.3%的异性恋男性、52.2%的异性恋女性、0.6%的同性恋男性、0.6%的女同性恋者、0.6%的双性恋加男性和 0.6%的双性恋加女性。我们发现，随着年龄的增长，双性恋加男性容易感到孤独。这组人在 50 岁时孤独感最高，与异性恋男性的差异随着时间的推移而持续存在。双性恋加男性的孤独感从 70 岁开始急剧增加。社会经济和健康状况并不能解释老年双性恋加男性孤独感的增加。较低的社会支持和联系部分解释了这些差异。
根据现有的关于社会劣势和整个生命历程中韧性的研究和理论，对研究结果进行了讨论。我们扩展了关于解释孤独感的因素以及性认同对女性和男性孤独感差异的知识。
