Self-reported health and patterns of romantic love in adolescents from eight European countries and regions

• Published in: LGBT Health
• Main Authors: Költő, András, Cosma, Alina, Moreau, Nathalie, Young, Honor, Thorsteinsson, Einar B., Gobina, Inese, Godeau, Emmanuelle, Saewyc, Elizabeth M., Nic Gabhainn, Saoirse
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Mary Ann Liebert 2020
• Subjects: adolescence; epidemiology; health disparities; international research (research outside the US); minority stress; Akureyri; Iceland; University of Akureyri
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10379/16064; https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2019.0107

Purpose: Sexual minority youth (SMY) are at increased risk of poor health, but it remains unclear whether this phenomenon is universal. In this study, nationally representative samples of 15-year olds from eight European countries and regions were investigated to test if adolescents who have been in love with same- or both-gender partners report poorer health than those exclusively in love with opposite-gender partners or who have never been in love. Methods: A subsample of 13,674 adolescents participating in the 2014 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study was used. We conducted binary logistic regression, adjusted for gender, region, and relative family affluence, to analyze associations between self-reported romantic love, multiple psychosomatic symptoms, and poor self-rated health. Results: Adolescents reporting same-gender love (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.50, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.11–2.02) and both-gender love (aOR = 3.57, 95% CI: 2.65–4.83) had significantly higher odds for multiple psychosomatic symptoms than those who reported opposite-gender love. Similarly, both SMY groups had higher odds of poor self-rated health (aOR = 2.95, 95% CI: 1.64–5.31 and aOR = 3.08, 95% CI: 1.79–5.31, respectively). Those who reported that they have never been in love had significantly lower odds for multiple symptoms. Adjustment for sociodemographic variables and stratifying by gender did not substantially change the odds ratios. Conclusion: Adolescents in love with same- and both-gender partners reported poorer subjective health outcomes than those in love with opposite-gender partners or who reported never being in love, suggesting that SMY health inequalities are found across various European countries and regions. This research was supported by the following agencies and bodies: HBSC Belgium Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles is funded by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (FWB), the Office of Birth and Childhood (ONE), the Walloon Region, and the Brussels-Capital Region. HBSC Bulgaria is funded by UNICEF-Bulgaria. HBSC England is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. HBSC France is funded by Santé Publique France and French Monitoring Centre for Drug Use and Addiction (OFDT). HBSC Hungary is funded by ELTE Eötvös Loránd University. HBSC Iceland is funded by grants from the Icelandic Directorate of Health, Kaupfelag Eyfirdinga (KEA) and the University of Akureyri. North Macedonia is funded by the United Nations Population Fund/United Nations Development Programme. HBSC Switzerland is funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health and most of the Swiss cantons. The study was funded, in part, by grant number FDN 154335 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (E.M.S., Principal Investigator). peer-reviewed