Primary Submission Category: Structural factors
Relationship between indicators of structural cis-heterosexism and indicators of psychological well-being in partnered SGM individuals
Authors:Â Alex Bates Claire Kamp Dush
Presenting Author: Alex Bates*
Past research has highlighted the importance of state and city-wide anti-discrimination policies in improving the health and well-being of sexual and gender minority (SGM) communities. A recent population-based study found that restrictive state-level policies increase the odds of SGM adults experiencing worse mental health and undertaking more risky behaviors (White et al., 2022). However, to date no population-based studies have been able to examine whether this association also extends to partnered SGM individuals. This study seeks to explore the effect of indicators of structural discrimination on the psychological well-being and risky behaviors of partnered SGM individuals. We plan to use data from the National Couples’ Health and Time Study (NCHAT) (a nationally representative sample of married or cohabitating respondents aged 20-60 years old with oversamples of racial, ethnic, and sexual minority people) to explore this relationship. Dependent variables (DV) will include depression, anxiety, overall stress, stress overload, emotional regulation, alcohol drinking, and smoking status. Independent variables (IV) will include self-report measures of structural discrimination, state-level anti-discrimination policy scores (using Movement in Advancement Project (MAP) data), and a measure of anti-SGM bills in the state legislation, as well as relevant covariates (age, gender identity, race/ethnicity, education, income). Weighted multilevel (respondents nested within states) multivariable linear and logistic regression models will be used to analyze the relationship between each DV and each IV. The final analytic sample included 1,617 SGM-partnered adults. Initial unadjusted analyses indicate that SGM-partnered individuals living in states with fewer anti-discriminatory protections (compared to states with the most protections) have higher: odds of depression and anxiety, overall stress and stress overload, emotional dysregulation, and number of drinks per sitting.