Comparing the Rates of Early Childhood Victimization Across Sexual Orientations: Heterosexual, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Mostly Heterosexual

Overview

Journal PLoS One

Specialties General Medicine
Science

Date 2015 Oct 8

PMID 26444428

Citations 20

Authors

Christopher Zou

Judith P Andersen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Few studies have examined the rates of childhood victimization among individuals who identify as "mostly heterosexual" (MH) in comparison to other sexual orientation groups. For the present study, we utilized a more comprehensive assessment of adverse childhood experiences to extend prior literature by examining if MH individuals' experience of victimization more closely mirrors that of sexual minority individuals or heterosexuals. Heterosexual (n = 422) and LGB (n = 561) and MH (n = 120) participants were recruited online. Respondents completed surveys about their adverse childhood experiences, both maltreatment by adults (e.g., childhood physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and childhood household dysfunction) and peer victimization (i.e., verbal and physical bullying). Specifically, MH individuals were 1.47 times more likely than heterosexuals to report childhood victimization experiences perpetrated by adults. These elevated rates were similar to LGB individuals. Results suggest that rates of victimization of MH groups are more similar to the rates found among LGBs, and are significantly higher than heterosexual groups. Our results support prior research that indicates that an MH identity falls within the umbrella of a sexual minority, yet little is known about unique challenges that this group may face in comparison to other sexual minority groups.

Citing Articles

Randomised controlled trial of LGBTQ-affirmative cognitive-behavioural therapy for sexual minority women's minority stress, mental health and hazardous drinking: Project EQuIP protocol.

Pachankis J, Chiaramonte D, Scheer J, Ankrum H, Eisenstadt B, Hobbs R BMJ Open. 2025; 15(3):e086738.

PMID: 40032395 PMC: 11877267. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-086738.

Peer Bullying Victimization Trajectories for Sexually and Gender Diverse Youth from Early Childhood to Late Adolescence.

Huang J, Kaufman T, Baams L, Branje S J Youth Adolesc. 2024; 53(11):2589-2609.

PMID: 38849685 PMC: 11466994. DOI: 10.1007/s10964-024-02020-8.

Contextualizing Cisgender Women's Histories of Intimate Partner Violence Victimization With Men and Women.

McCauley H, Reid T, Anderson R, Ast R, Zelazny S, Miller E Violence Against Women. 2023; 29(15-16):3244-3262.

PMID: 37710991 PMC: 11403939. DOI: 10.1177/10778012231199110.

High prevalence of risky sexual behaviour among key populations receiving antiretroviral therapy at a large HIV clinic in northern Uganda.

Adrawa N, Izudi J, Nyeko K, Welikhe E, Kizito B, Bajunirwe F Afr Health Sci. 2023; 23(1):362-372.

PMID: 37545940 PMC: 10398433. DOI: 10.4314/ahs.v23i1.38.

Health Outcomes of Sexual Minority Women Who Have Experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences: A Scoping Review.

Bochicchio L, Porsch L, Zollweg S, Matthews A, Hughes T Trauma Violence Abuse. 2023; 25(1):764-794.

PMID: 37070743 PMC: 10582204. DOI: 10.1177/15248380231162973.

References

Wang J, Iannotti R, Nansel T . School bullying among adolescents in the United States: physical, verbal, relational, and cyber. J Adolesc Health. 2009; 45(4):368-75. PMC: 2751860. DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.03.021. View

Ziyadeh N, Prokop L, Fisher L, Rosario M, Field A, Camargo Jr C . Sexual orientation, gender, and alcohol use in a cohort study of U.S. adolescent girls and boys. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2006; 87(2-3):119-30. DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2006.08.004. View

Roberts A, Glymour M, Koenen K . Considering alternative explanations for the associations among childhood adversity, childhood abuse, and adult sexual orientation: reply to Bailey and Bailey (2013) and Rind (2013). Arch Sex Behav. 2013; 43(1):191-6. PMC: 3951775. DOI: 10.1007/s10508-013-0239-1. View

Anda R, Butchart A, Felitti V, Brown D . Building a framework for global surveillance of the public health implications of adverse childhood experiences. Am J Prev Med. 2010; 39(1):93-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2010.03.015. View

Andersen J, Blosnich J . Disparities in adverse childhood experiences among sexual minority and heterosexual adults: results from a multi-state probability-based sample. PLoS One. 2013; 8(1):e54691. PMC: 3553068. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054691. View

Twyman K, Saylor C, Saia D, Macias M, Taylor L, Spratt E . Bullying and ostracism experiences in children with special health care needs. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2010; 31(1):1-8. DOI: 10.1097/DBP.0b013e3181c828c8. View

Dube S, Williamson D, Thompson T, Felitti V, Anda R . Assessing the reliability of retrospective reports of adverse childhood experiences among adult HMO members attending a primary care clinic. Child Abuse Negl. 2004; 28(7):729-37. DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2003.08.009. View

Hansen C, Evans A . Bisexuality reconsidered: an idea in pursuit of a definition. J Homosex. 1985; 11(1-2):1-6. DOI: 10.1300/J082v11n01_01. View

Balsam K, Rothblum E, Beauchaine T . Victimization over the life span: a comparison of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and heterosexual siblings. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2005; 73(3):477-87. DOI: 10.1037/0022-006X.73.3.477. View

10.

Corliss H, Cochran S, Mays V . Reports of parental maltreatment during childhood in a United States population-based survey of homosexual, bisexual, and heterosexual adults. Child Abuse Negl. 2002; 26(11):1165-78. PMC: 4194076. DOI: 10.1016/s0145-2134(02)00385-x. View

11.

Horwitz A, Widom C, McLaughlin J, White H . The impact of childhood abuse and neglect on adult mental health: a prospective study. J Health Soc Behav. 2001; 42(2):184-201. View

12.

Vrangalova Z, Savin-Williams R . Mostly heterosexual and mostly gay/lesbian: evidence for new sexual orientation identities. Arch Sex Behav. 2012; 41(1):85-101. DOI: 10.1007/s10508-012-9921-y. View

13.

Horn S . Adolescents' Acceptance of Same-Sex Peers Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Expression. J Youth Adolesc. 2016; 36(3):363-71. DOI: 10.1007/s10964-006-9111-0. View

14.

Hughes T, Szalacha L, Johnson T, Kinnison K, Wilsnack S, Cho Y . Sexual victimization and hazardous drinking among heterosexual and sexual minority women. Addict Behav. 2010; 35(12):1152-6. PMC: 3006188. DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2010.07.004. View

15.

Quas J, Goodman G, Bidrose S, Pipe M, Craw S, Ablin D . Emotion and memory: Children's long-term remembering, forgetting, and suggestibility. J Exp Child Psychol. 1999; 72(4):235-70. DOI: 10.1006/jecp.1999.2491. View

16.

Norman R, Byambaa M, De R, Butchart A, Scott J, Vos T . The long-term health consequences of child physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Med. 2012; 9(11):e1001349. PMC: 3507962. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001349. View

17.

Loosier P, Dittus P . Group differences in risk across three domains using an expanded measure of sexual orientation. J Prim Prev. 2010; 31(5-6):261-72. DOI: 10.1007/s10935-010-0228-2. View

18.

Friedman M, Marshal M, Guadamuz T, Wei C, Wong C, Saewyc E . A meta-analysis of disparities in childhood sexual abuse, parental physical abuse, and peer victimization among sexual minority and sexual nonminority individuals. Am J Public Health. 2011; 101(8):1481-94. PMC: 3134495. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.190009. View

19.

Buhrmester M, Kwang T, Gosling S . Amazon's Mechanical Turk: A New Source of Inexpensive, Yet High-Quality, Data?. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2015; 6(1):3-5. DOI: 10.1177/1745691610393980. View

20.

Ploderl M, Fartacek R . Childhood gender nonconformity and harassment as predictors of suicidality among gay, lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual Austrians. Arch Sex Behav. 2007; 38(3):400-10. DOI: 10.1007/s10508-007-9244-6. View