Experiences of Discrimination, Mental Health, and Substance Use among Bisexual Young Adults

Abstract

Research suggests that experiences of anti-bisexual discrimination, otherwise known as biphobia, contributes to increased risk for mental health and substance use problems for bisexual individuals. The current study assessed whether experiences of biphobia predicted reporting symptoms of anxiety and depression as well as substance use. Data from 226 bisexual participants (ages 21–35) were collected online from March 2019 until August 2019. Results from two linear regressions indicated that experiences of biphobia significantly correlated with scores on depression and anxiety measures. Five binary logistic regressions were performed to assess whether experiences of biphobia predicted past 3 month alcohol use, nicotine use, cannabis use, and non-medical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD) after controlling for demographic variables. Biphobia significantly predicted the use of alcohol, nicotine, and non-medical use of all four classes of prescription drugs. Findings suggest that for young, bisexual adults, experiences of biphobia may substantially influence their mental and physical well-being.

Keywords:

• Anxiety
• biphobia
• bisexuality
• depression
• NMUPD

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

Ethics statement

Measures and study protocol were reviewed and approved by the IRB at Virginia Commonwealth University. The approval number is HM20015779.

Data availability statement

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shelby A. Smout

Shelby A. Smout is a recent graduate from the Doctoral Health Psychology program at Virginia Commonwealth University. They obtained their Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Bachelor of Art in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2016. Their work focuses on predictors of health and wellbeing among LGBTQ + individuals with a specific focus on stigma and intergroup discrimination.

Dr. Eric Benotsch is an Associate Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. He received his PhD in Clinical Health Psychology from the University of Iowa in 1998. His research focuses on substance use and HIV prevention. His recent projects have examined opioid and other prescription drug misuse in young adults, and associations between discrimination, mental health and substance use in sexual and gender minority adults.