Bisexual people can internalize stigma from both heterosexual and gay/lesbian communities, which often occurs in the form of monosexism, the belief that people should only be attracted to one gender. Although community involvement is protective for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer+ (LGBQ+) people, bisexual people may benefit more from bisexual-specific communities than LGBQ+ communities because of monosexism. Further, how bisexual people define their identity may be related to internalized binegativity, especially given the historical invisibility of bisexuality in mainstream media and recent debates about the definition of bisexuality within LGBQ+ communities. We examined LGBQ+ and bisexual-specific community involvement, definitions of bisexuality, and internalized binegativity among an online sample of 816 bisexual adults. Multivariate regression analyses showed that those with spectrum definitions, which acknowledged the nuanced understanding of sex, gender, and sexuality, reported lower internalized binegativity than those with binary definitions, which described sexuality as consistent with mainstream norms. Involvement in LGBQ+ communities, but not bisexual communities, was associated with lower internalized binegativity. There was no interaction between the type of definition and type of community involvement. Our results suggest that broad community involvement may be protective for internalized binegativity, but findings should be considered in light of a lack of well-funded, local bisexual communities. The current study adds to a growing literature on sexual minority stressors among bisexual people, a population that continues to be understudied.
Using data from the fourth wave of the National Study of Adolescent Health, this paper offers a preliminary investigation of factors implicated in the physical and mental health of bisexual individuals. The roles of sleep, socioeconomic status, feelings of disrespect, and reported lack of health insurance are considered. Further, this study examines depression as a psychological stress response and systemic inflammation as a physiological stress response. Systemic inflammation in this population was estimated using the biomarker C-reactive protein (CRP). Reported acute illness in the past month and blood pressure serve as measures of physical health outcomes. Analyses revealed a pattern of elevated CRP (>3mg/L) among participants who reported no health insurance coverage. For participants who reported no health insurance coverage and identified as mostly homosexual, bisexual, or mostly heterosexual, feelings of disrespect were associated both with their sleep outcomes as well as their total household income. Moreover, linear regression showed that CRP significantly predicted blood pressure values. These analyses serve to bring health disparities and specific considerations for individuals attracted to more than one gender further into scientific conversation. Suggestions for further study of bisexual minority stress and bisexual health are offered.
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：