Longitudinal psychological health profiles among sexual minority Middle-aged and older adults in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging
Juhyeong Lee, Theresa Pauly, Christiane A HoppmannAbstract
Objectives
Individuals from historically underrepresented groups such as sexual minorities may experience aging in unique ways. This study aimed to examine potential differences in the longitudinal psychological health trajectories (i.e., depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, psychological distress, and self-rated mental health) of heterosexual, lesbian, gay, and bisexual middle-aged and older adults in Canada.
Methods
Longitudinal data across three time points spanning up to 10 years were obtained from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. We applied propensity score matching to compare the trajectories of 1,057 individuals self-identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual with 1,057 case-matched heterosexual individuals using linear growth models.
Results
At baseline, lesbian individuals reported higher life satisfaction than heterosexual individuals. Gay individuals did not differ in any of the outcomes from heterosexual individuals. Bisexual individuals reported higher depressive symptoms and distress, and poorer self-rated mental health than heterosexual individuals. Longitudinal findings show that depressive symptoms, distress, and self-rated mental health decreased, while life satisfaction increased over time among heterosexual individuals. Lesbian individuals showed a dampened increase in life satisfaction compared to heterosexual individuals. No other significant differences in longitudinal psychological health trajectories were observed.
Discussion
Lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals may differ in their aging experiences from heterosexual individuals, but they may not always show poorer psychological health than heterosexual individuals. Notably, findings suggest that bisexual middle-aged and older adults may be more vulnerable to psychological health challenges than individuals self-identifying as lesbian, gay, or heterosexual.