1864 – Sexual Orientation And Depression Among Young Adult People

Abstract

Introduction

Non-heterosexual orientations are widely stigmatized and frequently exposed to discrimination and victimization. Stigma has an impact on the formation of minority stress which base on the premise that non-heterosexuals in the society are subjected to chronic stress. This is a cause of the occurrence many psychological problems including depression among homosexual and bisexual individuals.

Aims

This study examined the relationship between sexual orientation and level of depression among young adult people.

Methods

The designed cross-sectional survey was used. The study comprised 316 participants who declare themselves as heterosexual (n=98), homosexual (n=160) and bisexual (n=58). The following questionnaire methods were used: the Beck Depression Inventory and self-report questionnaire including items about demographic characteristics.

Results

Data analyses has shown that 30.7% of surveyed non-heterosexual people have a higher risk of depression. It's nearly three times greater than for general Polish population. The research also has distinguished level of depression according to sexual orientation of respondents (bisexual: M=13.22, SD=10.69; homosexual: M=8.85, SD=8.29; heterosexual: M=4.13, SD=3.88). Results present that the highest risk of depression occurs among bisexual individuals (F=3.68, p< 0.01), especially women.

Conclusions

Some of the excess depression among non-heterosexuals could be lessened by intervention strictly associated with gender and sexual orientation.