Bi+ adults' daily wellbeing: The roles of relationship status and partner gender

Abstract

This study examined whether relationship involvement and partner gender were associated with between‐person differences and within‐person fluctuation in positive and negative affect and alcohol use among people who are attracted to more than one gender or regardless of gender (e.g., bisexual, pansexual, queer; bi+). One hundred and ninety‐eight bi+ individuals (M age 26.97; 73.1% non‐Latinx White) completed a 28‐day diary study. Multilevel regression analyses modeled between‐person differences in daily affect and alcohol use as a function of relationship status and partner gender. ANCOVAs were conducted to examine differences in within‐person fluctuation. Results partially support past findings that relationship involvement may not confer benefits for bi+ people and that mixed‐gender partnerships could be particularly challenging. Future research directions are discussed.

Minority stress and relationship satisfaction among bi+ individuals: The roles of partner gender and sexual orientation.

“…Participants whose gender identity was the same as their partner’s were categorized as being in same-gender relationships, participants whose gender identity was different from their partner’s were categorized as being in different-gender relationships, and relationships with at least one nonbinary individual were considered their own group. Consistent with prior research (Vilkin et al, 2022), participants were grouped based on their own and their partner’s gender identity, regardless of whether they were cisgender or transgender (e.g., a same-gender relationship could include a cisgender or transgender woman in a relationship with a cisgender or transgender woman).…”

German and Italian validation of the Dyadic Coping Inventory–Sexual Minority Stress (DCI-SMS) scale.

“…SMS is associated with higher symptoms of anxiety and depression (e.g., Feinstein et al, 2019; Vilkin et al, 2022) and lower relationship quality (e.g., Cao et al, 2017; Scott et al, 2023). For those in a romantic relationship, SMS experienced by one partner can affect their partner (e.g., Randall, Tao, et al, 2017) and couples may jointly experience couple-level minority stressors (LeBlanc et al, 2015).…”

Relationship satisfaction among plurisexual young adults: Understanding the unique role of identity abuse.

“…Unique stigma-based experiences like identity abuse emphasize the need to examine the link between intimate partner violence and relationship status among sexual minority populations more broadly, especially focusing on relationships of plurisexual people. Research shows that, unlike their heterosexual and lesbian/gay counterparts, romantic relationships are associated with poorer health and psychosocial outcomes among bisexual people, pansexual people, queer people, and others under the plurisexual umbrella (Hsieh & Liu, 2019;Vilkin et al, 2022.;Wilson et al, 2022). Bisexual people in particular report lower relationship satisfaction than monosexual people (Perales & Baxter, 2018;Sloan et al, 2023).…”