Do shared etiological factors contribute to the relationship between sexual orientation and depression?
Open accessAbstract
Background: Gays, lesbians and bisexuals (i.e. non-heterosexuals) have been found to be at much greater risk for many psychiatric symptoms and disorders, including depression. This may be due in part to prejudice and discrimination experienced by non-heterosexuals, but studies controlling for minority stress, or performed in very socially liberal countries, suggest that other mechanisms must also play a role. Here we test the viability of common cause (shared genetic or environmental etiology) explanations of elevated depression rates in non-heterosexuals. Method: A community-based sample of adult twins ( n =9884 individuals) completed surveys investigating the genetics of psychiatric disorder, and were also asked about their sexual orientation. Large subsets of the sample were asked about adverse childhood experiences such as sexual abuse, physical abuse and risky family environment, and also about number of older brothers, paternal and maternal age, and number of close friends. Data were analyzed using the classical twin design. Results: Non-heterosexual males and females had higher rates of lifetime depression than their heterosexual counterparts. Genetic factors accounted for 31% and 44% of variation in sexual orientation and depression respectively. Bivariate analysis revealed that genetic factors accounted for a majority (60%) of the correlation between sexual orientation and depression. In addition, childhood sexual abuse and risky family environment were significant predictors of both sexual orientation and depression, further contributing to their correlation. Conclusions: Non-heterosexual men and women had elevated rates of lifetime depression, partly due to shared etiological factors, although causality cannot be definitively resolved.
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Sexual minorities experience more lifetime depression symptoms than heterosexual individuals.
“Moreover, sexual minorities experience more symptoms related to depression in their lifetime compared to heterosexual individuals (Zietsch, et al., 2012).”
From Examination of outcomes among sexual minorities in treatment for obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (2022) · cites this paper as Zietsch, et al., 2012
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Minority stress theory: Application, critique, and continued relevance
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“It is important to note that this critique does not suggest that a genetic explanation replaces minority stress entirely as an explanation of health inequalities [47].”
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- Authors
- Zietsch, B. P., Verweij, K. J. H., Heath, A. C., Madden, P. A. F., Martin, N. G., Nelson, E. C., & Lynskey, M. T.
- Affiliations
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Zietsch, B. P.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Psychological Medicine
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2011-08-26
- Volume
- 42
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 521-532
- ISSN
- 0033-2917 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-8978
- PMC
- PMC3594769
- OpenAlex
- W2164006354
- Cited by
- 108
- References
- 72
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 5.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Psychological Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- VU Research Portal (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Digital Commons@Becker (Washington University School of Medicine) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Pure Amsterdam UMC (submittedVersion)
- Radboud Repository (Radboud University) (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (AA11998, AA13321, AA07728)
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA11998, R37AA007728, R01AA013446, K05AA017688, R01AA010249, R01AA013321, P50AA011998, AA13321, R01AA007728, AA13446, AA-07728)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA018267, R01DA018267)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Sexual Differentiation and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- sexual orientation, depression, genetic etiology, shared genes, adverse childhood experiences, child sexual abuse, family environment, lifetime depression
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Australia, Child, Child Abuse, Depression, Diseases in Twins, Family, Female, Humans, Male, Models, Genetic, Risk Factors, Sexual Behavior, Prevalence, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
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