Social Anxiety Across Sexual and Gender Identity Subpopulations

Abstract

Recent research indicates that gay/lesbian identified sexual minority individuals report lower social anxiety than their counterparts who identify as bisexual or indicate an emerging identity label (e.g., queer, pansexual, or asexual). The current study advances the knowledge base by comparing levels of social anxiety across both sexualandgender identity subpopulations in a sexual minority sample residing in the Republic of Ireland. Six hundred two sexual minority adults participated in an online survey in which they completed measures of sociodemographic variables (including sexual and gender identity) and social anxiety. Across gender identity subpopulations, transgender/non-binary individuals were more likely to report elevated social anxiety symptoms than both cisgender men and cisgender women; further, cisgender women were more likely to report elevated social anxiety symptoms than cisgender men. Within each of these gender identity groups, there was no significant difference in odds of elevated social anxiety symptoms across sexual identity subgroups (gay/lesbian, bisexual, and emerging identity) when adjusted for sociodemographic variables. Results highlight the necessity to represent the mental health experiences of diverse sexual minority subpopulations, especially in population-based studies of sexual minority mental health. Additionally, future studies should aim to explore the potentially distinctive and complex social stressors encountered by the diverse groups within the sexual and gender minority population.