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ABSTRACT
The mental health disparities for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) compared to heterosexual youth are well established. However, evidence indicates there may be diversity in risk for mental health outcomes within sexual minority youth. This study examined mental health outcomes in 1,933 young people (aged 16 − 25 years) who used the online mental health platform ReachOut. We explored mental health outcomes (mental health service use and hospitalization, depression, anxiety, and stress), and risk for suicide among heterosexual, gay/lesbian, bisexual, queer+, and questioning young people. Compared to their heterosexual peers, bisexual, queer+, and questioning young people had significantly higher levels of depression, anxiety, and risk for suicide. Bisexual and queer+ young people also had significantly higher levels of stress compared to heterosexual youth. Bisexual and young people questioning their sexuality were significantly more likely to have a previous mental health hospitalization. Gay/lesbian youth did not significantly differ from heterosexuals on depression, anxiety, stress, or previous hospitalization, but did for risk of suicide. These findings underscore the importance of measuring, reporting, and addressing the distinct mental health experiences of sexual minority youth.
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge that this study was conducted on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. The young people who took part in this study did so on unceded Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lands across Australia. We pay our respects to the traditional owners of Country, to elders past and present, and to any Indigenous people reading this work.
Disclosure statement
The authors were all employed by ReachOut Australia, which supported the research.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Hilary M. Miller
Mx Hilary M Miller (she/they), MPH
Hilary Miller is a public health researcher with a passion for strengths-based health promotion through addressing the social determinants of health and co-designing solutions. They hold an undergraduate in Science (Psychology) and Arts (Development Studies) from the Australian National University (2013) and a Master of Public Health from the University of Sydney (2015).
Mx Miller is a bisexual, genderfluid, queer person who lives with mental health challenges and is neurodiverse. She is passionate about intersectionality and improving health outcomes for all sexual and gender diverse folks.
Hilary acknowledges her privilege as a white, able-bodied, female-presenting person and how they benefit from ongoing white settler-colonialism in Australia. They live and work on stolen Aboriginal land. Their privilege has allowed them to access education, employment, safe housing, and other opportunities that many others have been denied due to systematic racism, ableism, and transphobia. They hope that they can contribute to research that elevates the voices those who have been erased, excluded, minimized and dismissed.