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Introduction: While sexual minority people have been widely considered at risk for developing a range of body image concerns, evidence of body dissatisfaction and shame amongst LGB (lesbian, gay, and bisexual) individuals is mixed. This study investigated differences in body uneasiness, body dissatisfaction, and self-blaming/attacking attitudes between LGB and heterosexual individuals, as well as within LGB groups, while also examining the predictive role of body mass index (BMI). Methods: A sample of cisgender lesbian women (n = 163), gay men (n = 277), bisexual women (n = 135), bisexual men (n = 39), heterosexual women (n = 398), and heterosexual men (n = 219) completed an online survey assessing different aspects of body image between May and July 2020. Results: Gay and bisexual men reported greater body image disturbance and self-blaming attitudes relative to heterosexual men. In contrast, lesbian women reported lower body uneasiness than their bisexual and heterosexual counterparts, but greater self-hate. Moreover, lesbian and bisexual women showed more body dissatisfaction than gay men, and bisexual individuals reported more body uneasiness than individuals in other sexual minority subgroups. Higher BMI emerged as a significant predictor of body image concerns and dissatisfaction. Conclusions: Body image dimensions showed sexual identity-based differences. Determining the specific nuances of body image in LGB individuals can provide important information on potential risk factors that may impact mental health outcomes. Policy Implications: In-depth knowledge of body dissatisfaction and uneasiness in individuals with LGB identities may have critical implications for the development of personalized prevention and treatment strategies.

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Purpose: Evidence is scarce regarding the associations of romantic orientation with mental health and personality. The aims of the present study, therefore, were to examine psychological distress among homoromantic, biromantic, and heteroromantic adults and to investigate how personality dimensions influence their distress. Methods: A cross-sectional survey study was conducted between August 2018 and January 2021. Psychological distress, personality, and romantic orientation were assessed with the 6-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6), the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI), and a question about romantic orientation, respectively, in a web-based survey distributed to 11,922 participants. Saliva samples were collected for DNA extraction. After excluding those who did not cluster with Japanese ancestry and those whose genotypic sex did not match their reported sex, 11,662 individuals were included in further analyses. Results: The prevalence of being homoromantic or biromantic was 1.0% and 2.0% for females and 1.5% and 1.2% for males, respectively. Homoromantic males, but not females, had significantly higher K6 scores than their heteroromantic counterparts. Both male and female biromantic participants had significantly higher K6 scores than their heteroromantic counterparts. Furthermore, a significant association was found between romantic orientation and TIPI scores. Accounting for personality profiles did not alter the observed association between romantic orientation and psychological distress. Conclusion: Biromantic adults and homoromantic male adults of genetically confirmed Japanese ancestry living in Japan experienced higher psychological distress than heteroromantic individuals. The mental health disparities of the romantic minority individuals were irrespective of their personality profiles, suggesting the involvement of other factors such as minority stress in Japan.

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OBJECTIVES: Sexual identity has been recognized as a social determinant of health; however, evidence is limited on sexual minority status as a possible contributor to inequalities in cardiometabolic outcomes and the related hospital burden. This study aimed to investigate the association between sexual identity and hospital costs for cardiometabolic diseases among a cohort of Canadians using linked survey and administrative data. METHODS: Data from the 2007-2011 Canadian Community Health Survey were linked to acute-care inpatient records from the 2005/2006-2012/2013 Discharge Abstract Database. Multiple linear regression was used to assess the association between self-reported sexual identity and inpatient resource use for cardiometabolic diseases. RESULTS: Among the population ages 18-59, 2.1% (95% CI 1.9-2.2) identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB). LGB individuals more often reported having diabetes or heart disease compared with heterosexuals. The mean inflation-adjusted cost for cardiometabolic-related hospitalizations was found to be significantly higher among LGB patients (CAD$26,702; 95% CI 26,166-60,365) than among their heterosexual counterparts ($10,137; 95% CI 8,639-11,635), in part a reflection of longer hospital stays (13.6 days versus 5.1 days). Inpatient costs remained 54% (95% CI 8-119) higher among LGB patients after controlling for socio-demographics, health status, and health behaviours. CONCLUSION: This study revealed a disproportionate cost for potentially avoidable hospitalizations for cardiometabolic conditions among LGB patients, suggesting important unmet healthcare needs even in the Canadian context of universal coverage.

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Background: Guided by an ecological systems theory (EST) framework, the purpose of the present study was to investigate how multiple micro, mezzo, and macro factors influence the suicidality continuum from suicidal ideation to suicide attempt among Latinx LGB (lesbian, gay, and bisexual) youth living in the United States. Methods: Data for this cross sectional-study included 451 participants who self-identified as Latinx LGB on the 2017-National Youth Risk Behavioral Survey. The analysis explored micro, mezzo, and macro-level factors' association with three suicidality outcomes (ideation, planning, and attempt) at the bivariate and multivariate level. Since the outcome variables were dichotomized, univariate logistic regressions and backward elimination logistic regressions were used. Results: The most commonly reported suicidal behavior was ideation (n = 173; 40%), followed by planning (n = 150; 34%), and then attempt (n = 64; 21%). Findings from the backward elimination logistic regression on suicidal ideation suggest the best set of independent variables are being bullied at school (odds ratio [OR] = 2.81; CI: 1.61-4.89), experiencing sexual assault(OR = 2.32; CI: 1.32-4.07), experiencing depressive symptoms (OR = 1.99; CI: 1.07- 3.69),being cannabis use (OR = 1.76; CI: 1.08-2.89), and being female (OR = 1.72; CI: 1.01-2.93).For suicide planning the model suggested, experiencing depressive symptoms (OR = 3.21; CI:1.74-5.91), cannabis use (OR = 2.46; CI: 1.49-4.07), being bullied at school (OR = 2.04; CI:1.17-3.58), and experiencing sexual assault (OR = 1.88; CI: 1.07-3.31) exhibited the strongest relationships. Suicide attempt was significantly associated with cannabis use (OR = 3.12; CI:1.60-6.08), experiencing depression (OR= 2.89; CI: 1.30-6.43), experiencing sexual assault (OR = 2.77; CI: 1.34-5.71), and being bullied at school (OR = 2.34; CI: 1.12-4.91). Conclusion: Given the findings of this study, it is essential that tailored suicide prevention efforts be established that uniquely address the intersections of race/ethnicity and sexual orientation and how this intersection influences micro, mezzo, and macro factors associated with suicide ideation, planning, and attempt among Latinx LGB adolescents.

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BACKGROUND: Suicide is the second leading cause of death among U.S. youth. Prior research has found that disability and sexual orientation are each independently associated with suicide risk. However, most analyses regarding sexual orientation or disability in relation to teenagers' health have isolated the effects of these identities via multiple regression models. That approach assumes there is no multiplicative or synergistic effect between the two identities. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between suicidal ideation and the intersection of disability and sexual orientation. METHODS: Cross-sectional data from the 2015 Oregon Healthy Teens Survey were analyzed using Poisson regression analysis with robust variance to estimate the relationship between the intersection of disability and sexual orientation and youth reports of suicidal ideation. We calculated three measures of interaction: 1) the excess risk due to interaction (RERI); 2) the proportion attributable to interaction (AP); and 3) the synergy index (SI). RESULTS: Sexual minority teenagers with disabilities had higher risk of suicidal ideation (adjusted relative risk [ARR] = 2.82, 95% CI: 2.47-3.21) with respect to heterosexual teenagers without disabilities. The risk was also elevated, to a lesser degree, for heterosexual youth with disabilities (ARR = 1.97, 95% CI: 1.78-2.19) and LGB youth without disabilities (ARR = 2.17, 95% CI: 1.95-2.42) with respect to the reference group. Our measures of interaction were indicative of a synergistic effect between disability and sexual orientation. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest the combination of disability and minority sexual orientation may be associated with compounded negative experiences that could exacerbate the risk of suicide.

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