Sexual Orientation & Symptoms of Common Mental Disorder or Low Wellbeing: Combined Meta-Analysis of 12 UK Population Health Surveys
BACKGROUND:
Previous
studies have indicated increased risk of mental disorder symptoms, suicide and
substance misuse in lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) adults, compared to
heterosexual adults. Our aims were to determine an estimate of the association
between sexual orientation identity and poor mental health and wellbeing among
adults from 12 population surveys in the UK, and to consider whether effects
differed for specific subgroups of the population.
METHODS:
Individual
data were pooled from the British Cohort Study 2012, Health Survey for England
2011, 2012 and 2013, Scottish Health Survey 2008 to 2013, Longitudinal Study of
Young People in England 2009/10 and Understanding Society 2011/12. Individual
participant meta-analysis was used to pool estimates from each study, allowing
for between-study variation.
RESULTS:
Of 94,818
participants, 1.1 % identified as lesbian/gay, 0.9 % as bisexual,
0.8 % as 'other' and 97.2 % as heterosexual. Adjusting for a range of
covariates, adults who identified as lesbian/gay had higher prevalence of
common mental disorder when compared to heterosexuals, but the association was
different in different age groups: apparent for those under 35 (OR = 1.78,
95 % CI 1.40, 2.26), weaker at age 35-54.9 (OR = 1.42, 95 % CI 1.10,
1.84), but strongest at age 55+ (OR = 2.06, 95 % CI 1.29, 3.31). These effects
were stronger for bisexual adults, similar for those identifying as 'other',
and similar for 'low wellbeing'.
CONCLUSIONS:
In
the UK, LGB adults have higher prevalence of poor mental health and low
wellbeing when compared to heterosexuals, particularly younger and older LGB
adults. Sexual orientation identity should be measured routinely in all health
studies and in administrative data in the UK in order to influence national and
local policy development and service delivery. These results reiterate the need
for local government, NHS providers and public health policy makers to consider
how to address inequalities in mental health among these minority groups.
- Adults identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual or ‘other’ are
at increased risk of poor mental health and low wellbeing compared to those
identifying as heterosexual.
- The association varies across the life course, with the
lowest relative risks seen in midlife and the highest among older adults
- Our study used cross-sectional data suitable for estimating
prevalence, but future studies should consider longitudinal patterns (such as
onset and persistence of new mental health problems) and clarify mechanisms
Full article at: http://goo.gl/c6MrVB
- 1Department of Psychology, London Metropolitan University, London, UK.
- 2Division of Psychiatry, UCL, London, UK.
- 3Public Health England, London, UK.
- 4Administrative Data Research Centre for England (ADRC-E), Farr Institute, UCL, London, NW1 2DA, UK. G.Hagger-Johnson@ucl.ac.uk.
- BMC Psychiatry. 2016 Mar 24;16(1):67. doi: 10.1186/s12888-016-0767-z.
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