title: The long-term mental health risk associated with non-heterosexual orientation.
abstract: Findings that describe the mental health risk associated with non-heterosexual orientation in young and middle-aged adults are from cross-sectional designs or fail to discriminate homosexual and bisexual orientations. This study examines the mental health risk of homosexual and bisexual orientation over an 8-year period.
  
  
  
  Participants were from the age-cohort study, the Personality and Total Health Through Life Project, were observed twice every 4 years, and aged 20-24 (n = 2353) and 40-44 (n = 2499) at baseline.
  
  
  
  Homosexual orientation was unrelated to long-term depression risk. Risk for anxiety and depression associated with homosexual and bisexual orientations, respectively, were attenuated in fully-adjusted models. Bisexual orientation risk associated with anxiety was partially attenuated in fully-adjusted models.
  
  
  
  Non-heterosexual orientation was not a major risk factor for long-term mental health outcomes. Instead, those with a non-heterosexual orientation were more likely to experience other mental health risk factors, which explain most of the risk observed amongst those with a non-heterosexual orientation.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research on Ageing, Health and Wellbeing, Research School of Population Health, The Australian National University,Canberra,Australia.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research on Ageing, Health and Wellbeing, Research School of Population Health, The Australian National University,Canberra,Australia.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Butterworth
authors.affiliation: Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne,Melbourne,Australia.
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Jorm
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D001727:Bisexuality / Q000523:psychology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006716:Homosexuality / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D000072339:Sexual and Gender Minorities / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Depression; mental health; population survey; risk factors