Sexual Preference Linked with Violence and PTSD
A new study has found that gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, and heterosexuals who have ever had a same-gender sex partner are one and one half to two times more likely to have experienced violent events during childhood.
Moreover, individuals were found to have double the risk of experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a consequence of these events.
The investigation by researchers from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Children’s Hospital Boston is the first study to directly link higher rates of PTSD in those four groups (classified as sexual minorities) to greater violence exposure.
The research appears online and in an upcoming print issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
Traumatic events like active combat, child maltreatment, interpersonal violence, or unexpected death of a loved one can lead to PTSD, a mental illness which is characterized by distressing memories of the traumatic event, avoidance of objects, places, or people associated with the event, emotional numbing and an increased sense of vigilance.
PTSD in turn can lead to drug and alcohol abuse, depression, and difficulties with relationships and employment if it goes untreated.
The lifetime risk of PTSD in the general population is about 4 percent for men and 10 percent for women.
Among sexual minority adults, the risk of PTSD is doubled – over 9 percent for men and 20 percent for women.
One of the most important lessons from this study, said lead author Andrea Roberts, a postdoctoral fellow in epidemiology at HSPH, is that “medical professionals need to be aware that a high percentage of patients with minority sexual orientation may have been victims of interpersonal violence and may benefit from followup care to cope with the aftermath of violent victimization.”
“Our study documents that profound sexual orientation disparities exist in exposure to violence and other traumatic events beginning in childhood,” said senior author Karestan Koenen, associate professor of society, human development and health at HSPH.
“Something about our society puts individuals with minority sexual orientations at high risk for victimization. This is a major public health problem that needs to be addressed.”
This study used data from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. Respondents in the study were asked not only about how they classify their sexual orientation, but also about their sexual behavior and feelings of sexual attraction.
This enabled the researchers to analyze in more detail to discover that heterosexuals with same-gender attractions but no same-gender sex partners were not at elevated risk of violence or PTSD.
This is possibly because heterosexual individuals who do not act on their homosexual attractions may not face as much stigma, the authors suggest.
Exposure to multiple traumatic events at a young age may be contributing to the increased rates of PTSD among sexual minorities: 45 percent of sexual minority women and 28 percent of sexual minority men experienced violence or abuse in childhood, whereas 21 percent of women and 20 percent of men in the general population experience violence or abuse in childhood.
The researchers suggest five mechanisms for the increased risk of victimization and PTSD among sexual minorities:
- Hate crimes–almost one-third of sexual minority adults in the U.S. report being victims of a hate crime
- Gender non-conforming behavior in childhood, which increases risk of being bullied and victimized
- Social isolation and discrimination due to sexual minority orientation
- Elevated risk-taking behavior stemming from social isolation and perceived stigma
- Limited access to mental health care
The authors urge health care providers and families to be aware that sexual minorities face a greater risk of violence and PTSD and may have a history of trauma that should be addressed before it becomes mentally debilitating.
Source: Harvard School of Public Health
Nauert PhD, R. (2018). Sexual Preference Linked with Violence and PTSD. Psych Central. Retrieved on February 27, 2020, from https://psychcentral.com/news/2010/04/16/sexual-preference-linked-with-violence-and-ptsd/12888.html