The LGB Mormon Paradox: Mental, Physical, and Self-Rated Health Among Mormon and Non-Mormon LGB Individuals in the Utah Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

Abstract

Much of the literature on mental and physical health among religious LGB individuals has relied on small-N convenience samples. This study takes advantage of a unique, large-N, population-based dataset to test the relationship between religious identity, religious activity, and health, with a specific emphasis on Utah Mormons. In a surprising finding, Mormon LGBs report better mental health than non-Mormon LGBs, while their self-rated and physical health is not significantly different. However, there is some evidence that Mormon LGBs derive fewer health benefits from church attendance than their non-LGB Mormon counterparts. These results may nuance the conventional wisdom regarding the health dynamics of LGB individuals who identify with a conservative, heteronormative religious tradition, and plausible explanations are discussed.

The role of religiousness and beliefs about sexuality in well-being among sexual minority mormons.

“…These findings contrast with previous literature that has found a stronger negative effect of religiousness among sexual minority Mormons (Cranney, 2017; Dehlin et al, 2015a; Wolff et al, 2016). These effects have typically been understood to be the effect of increased minority stress (e.g., exposure to homonegative teachings) experienced by sexual minority Mormons (Meyer, 2003).…”

“…Our findings highlight the difficulties in integrating conflicting identities and suggest that developing a clear sense of which identity is more salient may help reduce cognitive dissonance and ultimately aid integration to improve well-being. These findings contrast with previous literature that has found a stronger negative effect of religiousness among sexual minority Mormons (Cranney, 2017;Dehlin et al, 2015a;Wolff et al, 2016). These effects have typically been understood to be the effect of increased minority stress (e.g., exposure to homonegative teachings) experienced by sexual minority Mormons (Meyer, 2003).…”

Exploring mental health and help-seeking attitudes among sexual minoritized adults in Utah.

“…On average, sexual minority Utahns report experiencing significantly more “bad mental health days” in the past month; the effect is such that the average sexual minority Utahn will report experiencing poor mental health for an equivalent of 25%–30% of the last month whereas the average heterosexual Utahn will report experiencing poor mental health for less than 15% of the last month. This observation replicates that of Cranney (2017) who observed that non-LDS sexual minority Utahns report a significantly higher number of “bad mental health days” when compared to heterosexual Utahns. Bad mental health days are an important outcome considering evidence suggesting a one day increase in “bad mental health days” within any given US county is associated with 1.84–2.16 percentage point decrease in national per capita income growth rate (Davlasheridze et al, 2018).…”

The relationship between religiousness and health among sexual minorities: A meta-analysis.

“…Effect sizes were relatively normally distributed and ranged from r = −.53 to r = .77 (see Figure 2); a 95% prediction interval indicated that a randomly selected effect size within a randomly selected study would likely be between r = −.31 and r = .40. Whereas on average some sexual minority samples reported substantial harm from R/S (Dehlin et al, 2014; Severson et al, 2014), others described R/S as being unrelated to health (Hamblin & Gross, 2014; Rostosky et al, 2007), and still others described R/S as beneficial to their health (Barringer & Gay, 2017; Cranney, 2017). Because sexual minorities describe their relationships with R/S in such varied ways, we caution against overeager attempts to characterize a singular relationship between R/S and health among sexual minorities.…”