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Thursday’s child: the role of adverse childhood experiences in explaining mental health disparities among lesbian, gay, and bisexual US adults

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Abstract

This study examined how adverse childhood experiences (ACE) may explain disparities in poor mental health between lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB), and heterosexual adults. Data are from three US states’ 2010 behavioral risk factor surveillance system surveys (n = 20,060) that included sexual orientation, ACE inventory, and mental distress. LGB status was significantly associated with mental distress (OR = 1.85 [1.14–3.02]). Once incorporating ACE scores into the multiple regression analysis, LGB status was no longer associated with mental distress (OR = 1.28 [0.76–2.16]). The results corroborate previous research that LGB individuals report greater prevalence of childhood adversity than their heterosexual peers, which may explain LGB adulthood health disparities.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the state BRFSS coordinators from the individual states included in this project for their cooperation in accessing the data. The authors also thank Elizabeth Handley for her statistical assistance. The opinions expressed in this work are those of the authors and do not represent the funders, institutions, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or United States Government. This work was partially supported by a post-doctoral fellowship to John R. Blosnich in an institutional National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Mental Health 5T32MH020061, a post-doctoral fellowship from the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Academic Affiliations, and the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Veterans Affairs, Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, USA

    John R. Blosnich

  2. Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA

    John R. Blosnich

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6, Canada

    Judith P. Andersen

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  1. John R. Blosnich
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  2. Judith P. Andersen
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Correspondence to John R. Blosnich.

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Blosnich, J.R., Andersen, J.P. Thursday’s child: the role of adverse childhood experiences in explaining mental health disparities among lesbian, gay, and bisexual US adults. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 50, 335–338 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-014-0955-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-014-0955-4

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