A new study has reported that bisexual women are more likely to suffer from stress and show symptoms of depression when compared to their male counterparts.
The study conducted at George Mason University and the University of South Carolina reports that bisexual women are also more likely to make life choices to smoke and drink heavily when compared to their peers of different sexual orientations.
The results were established through the examination of 2007/2008 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. The data for people between the ages of 24 and 32 were reviewed in relation to perceived stress, depressive symptoms, smoking, binge drinking, and victimization.
This is one of the first studies to examine more than one dimension of sexual orientation, the researchers looked at the correlations between identity, behaviour, and attraction such as ‘slightly gay attracted to men more than women and having a male partner’.
The researchers reported that bisexual women in particular suffer from more symptoms of stress and depression because they feel pressures to ‘choose’ one sexual orientation.
The study to be published in the American Journal of Public Health sheds light on the needs for bisexual women to have access to support and help for problems such as depression and stress and potentially the need for increased education into the effects of smoking and drinking on the body.