Sexual orientation and psychological distress: Differences by race and gender

ABSTRACT

This study investigates interactions between sexual orientation, race, and gender on a measure of psychological distress. There is a known association between sexual orientation minority identity and worse mental health outcomes. There are reasons to believe, however, that this association could vary by race and gender. Prior research considering such moderating effects has been sparse and typically employed small-scale convenience sampling. Using data from the 2013–2015 National Health Interview Survey, this study investigates differences in psychological distress scores between heterosexual, gay, lesbian, and bisexual participants across gender and racial categories. The results indicate a significant three-way interaction between sexual orientation, race, and gender. Specifically, the association between psychological distress and being a gay male is significantly larger for racial minority men than for White men. Although gay and lesbian women have significantly more psychological distress than heterosexual women, this gap is similar for White and racial minority women. Further analyses suggest that the moderating effect found among men is driven primarily by the higher psychological distress scores among Black and Hispanic gay men. Limitations, implications, and future directions are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• LGBT mental health
• National Health Interview Survey
• psychological distress
• racial minority LGB

Disclosure

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.