Sexual Minority-related Discrimination across the Life Course: Findings from a National Sample of Adults in the United States

ABSTRACT

In the United States, sexual minority (SM) status is associated with a number of health disparities. Based on mounting evidence, stigma and discrimination have been cited as key barriers to health equity for this population. We estimated the prevalence of three types of discrimination as a function of age among SM adults from the National Epidemiological Study of Alcohol Use and Related Conditions III (NESARC-III) (2012–2013). Among SM adults, reports of past-year general discrimination, victimization, and healthcare discrimination varied by age, with peaks in early adulthood and again in midlife. Age trends varied by biological sex, with males experiencing significantly more general discrimination, victimization, and healthcare discrimination at specific ages. Age trends also varied by sexual identity, as LGB-identifying SMs were significantly more likely to experience all forms of discrimination across all ages. Policies preventing homophobic discrimination and victimization are necessary given the pervasiveness of these experiences across adulthood.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexual minority
• LGB
• discrimination
• minority stress

Acknowledgments

The project described was partially supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Grant KL2 TR002015, and Grant UL1 TR002014.This study was further supported in part by award P50DA039838 and award DA039854 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism grant number F32AA023138. We gratefully acknowledge support from Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development viaP2CHD042849, awarded to the Population Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin and P2CHD041041 awarded to the Maryland Population Research Center. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. This manuscript was prepared using a limited access dataset obtained from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and does not reflect the opinions or views of NIAAA or the U.S. Government.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.