Minority Stress and Mental Health Among Bisexual and Lesbian Women in Norway

abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between minority stress, social belongingness to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGB[T+]) community, and mental health among lesbian and bisexual women. The data were collected using a web-based questionnaire. The self-selected sample consisted of 499 respondents, of which 33% were bisexual women and 67% were lesbian women. All women reported low levels of minority stress, moderate levels of belongingness to the LGB(T+) community, and most reported good mental health. Bisexual women reported higher levels of minority stress, lower levels of belongingness to the LGB(T+) community, and worse mental health than lesbian women. The strongest minority stress factor among bisexual women was concealment, whereas among lesbian women it was internalized homonegativity. Although there were several associations between belongingness to the LGB(T+) community and mental health among lesbian women, no similar relationship was found among bisexual women.

Keywords:

• Lesbian and bisexual women
• minority stress
• internalized homonegativity
• mental health

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Emilie Prell

Emilie Prell is Master of Psychology (MA) educated at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, in 2017.

Bente Traeen

Bente Traeen is a full professor of Health Psychology educated at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo.