Der Anteil sexueller Minoritäten in der älteren Wohnbevölkerung in Deutschland und potenzielle Assoziation zwischen der sexuellen Orientierung und depressiven Symptomen

Zusammenfassung

Ziel der Studie Beschreibung des Anteils sexueller Minoritäten in der älteren Wohnbevölkerung in Deutschland und Darstellung einer möglichen Assoziation mit depressiven Symptomen.

Methodik Daten der sechsten Welle (Jahr 2017) des Deutschen Alterssurveys (n = 5133). Das Durchschnittsalter betrug 66,1 Jahre (43–90 Jahre). Die Allgemeine Depressionsskala (Kurzversion, ADS-K) wurde zur Erfassung depressiver Symptome verwendet. Es wurde zwischen Hetero-, Bi- und Homosexuellen unterschieden. In die Analysen haben wir u. a. die folgenden Kovariaten aufgenommen: Alter, Geschlecht, Partnerschaftsstatus, Wohnort, subjektive Gesundheit, körperliche Funktionsfähigkeit (kurze Skala SF-36).

Ergebnisse In der älteren Wohnbevölkerung in Deutschland identifizieren sich 92,8 % der Individuen als Heterosexuelle, 1,7 % als Bisexuelle, 1,1 % als Homosexuelle und 4,3 % als „Andere“. Bivariat zeigte sich, dass kein signifikanter Zusammenhang zwischen sexueller Orientierung und depressiven Symptomen besteht. In multiplen Regressionsanalysen bestätigte sich dieses Ergebnis.

Schlussfolgerung Unsere Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass kein signifikanter Zusammenhang zwischen der sexuellen Orientierung und depressiven Symptomen in der älteren Wohnbevölkerung in Deutschland besteht.

Abstract

Objective To estimate the size of the sexual minorities population in the community-dwelling elderly population in Germany, and to identify whether there is a link with sexual minority status and depressive symptoms.

Methods Data were taken from the most recent sixth wave (year 2017) of the German Ageing Survey (n = 5,133). Average age was 66,1 years (43–90 years). Depressive symptoms were quantified using the 15-item version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Sexualities of heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual were identified. In the analyses we included the following covariates: age, sex, partnership status, place of residence, subjective health, physical functioning (short scale SF-36).

Results Among community-dwelling individuals 40 years and over, 92.8 % identify themselves as heterosexuals and 7.2 % as gender and sexual minorities (1.7 % bisexual, 1.1 % homosexual, and 4.3 % belong to the group “others”). Both bivariate analysis and multiple linear regressions showed no significant association between sexual orientation and depressive symptoms.

Conclusion Our study findings suggest that there is no significant association between sexual orientation and depressive symptoms among community-dwelling older adults.

Schlüsselwörter

LGBT - depressive Symptome - Homosexualität - Bisexualität - sexuelle Orientierung - sexuelle Minderheiten

Keywords

LGBT - depressive symptoms - homosexuality - bisexuality - sexual orientation - sexual minorities

Publication History

Article published online:
31 August 2020

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