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Cross-National Investigation of Health Indicators among Sexual Minorities in Norway and the United States Watson, Ryan J.; Wheldon, Christopher W.; Wichstrøm, Lars; Russell, Stephen T.

Abstract

A cross-national study of young adult sexual minorities was conducted in order to explore the associations between sexual orientation and measures of depression, suicidality, and substance use. Two nationally representative data sets were explored from the United States (N = 14,335) and Norway (N = 2423). Results indicated that sexual minorities experienced multiple health disparities (depression, suicidality, and substance use) compared to their heterosexual counterparts. We found similar patterns of depression, suicidality, and substance use for sexual minorities in both the United States and Norway. The highest odds of substance use were among heterosexual-identified Norwegian youth who reported same-sex sexual activity, and the highest odds of suicidality were found for bisexual young adults in Norway. These findings have implications for how we consider culture and social policy as barriers and/or opportunities for sexual minorities.

Item Metadata

Title
Cross-National Investigation of Health Indicators among Sexual Minorities in Norway and the United States
Creator
Watson, Ryan J.; Wheldon, Christopher W.; Wichstrøm, Lars; Russell, Stephen T.
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Date Issued
2015-10-28
Description
A cross-national study of young adult sexual minorities was conducted in order to explore the associations between sexual orientation and measures of depression, suicidality, and substance use. Two nationally representative data sets were explored from the United States (N = 14,335) and Norway (N = 2423). Results indicated that sexual minorities experienced multiple health disparities (depression, suicidality, and substance use) compared to their heterosexual counterparts. We found similar patterns of depression, suicidality, and substance use for sexual minorities in both the United States and Norway. The highest odds of substance use were among heterosexual-identified Norwegian youth who reported same-sex sexual activity, and the highest odds of suicidality were found for bisexual young adults in Norway. These findings have implications for how we consider culture and social policy as barriers and/or opportunities for sexual minorities.
Subject
LGB; Health disparities, MSM; WSW; Culture; Psychosocial adjustment
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2019-05-31
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
CC BY 4.0
DOI
10.14288/1.0379218
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/70444
Affiliation
Applied Science, Faculty of; Non UBC; Nursing, School of
Citation
Social Sciences 4 (4): 1006-1019 (2015)
Publisher DOI
10.3390/socsci4041006
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

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CC BY 4.0