The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #42620

Heather L. Corliss, MPH¹, Susan D. Cochran, PhD, MS¹, Vickie M. Mays, PhD, MSPH², Michele R. Roeder, BA², and Aarathi M. Venkatesan, BA². (1) Epidemiology, UCLA School of Public Health, 650 Charles Young Drive, UCLA School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, 310-396-6024, hcorliss@ucla.edu, (2) Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1563

Minority sexual orientation, markers of which normally appear during childhood or adolescence, is widely stigmatized and may generate risk for negative experiences such as harassment and violence during childhood. This may be especially problematic for those where same-gender attractions or behavior appear relatively early in life when social and intrapsychic resources that can be protective are presumably less well developed. Using data from a large community sample of approximately 1600 lesbians and bisexual women, we examined associations of indicators of minority sexual orientation development (age of first realization of sexual attraction to women, age of first sex with a woman, age of first disclosure of non-heterosexual orientation to others) with experiences of harassment and maltreatment during childhood. Early onset was defined as awareness before age 12, sexual contact before age 18, and disclosure of minority sexual orientation to others before age 18. After controlling for potential demographic confounding factors, those reporting early minority sexual orientation development evidenced greater risk before age 18 years for harassment by peers for being a tomboy, harassment by peers and family members for being gay, being heterosexually or homosexually raped, and reporting a positive history of making a suicide attempt during childhood or adolescence. Among lesbians and bisexual women, early development of minority sexual orientation appears to be associated with higher risk for childhood maltreatment. These findings underscore the need to develop public health interventions that successfully target sexual minority youth.

Learning Objectives: Learning objectives

• Describe demographic characteristics associated with early awareness of sexual attraction to women, early same-gender sexual initiation, and early disclosure of a sexual minority orientation among lesbians and bisexual women.
• Describe risk of harassment and maltreatment during childhood among lesbians and bisexual women who report early minority sexual orientation development.
• Identify the significance of early development of a minority sexual orientation to the health and well being of lesbians and bisexual women.

Keywords: Lesbian, Violence

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.