Mental health and health risk behaviors of active duty sexual minority and transgender service members in the United States military

Holloway, I. W., Green, D., Pickering, C., Wu, E., Tzen, M., Goldbach, J. T., & Castro, C. A. (2021). Mental health and health risk behaviors of active duty sexual minority and transgender service members in the United States military. LGBT Health, 8(2), 152–161. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2020.0031

This study examined differences in mental health and health risk behaviors among active-duty Service members based on their sexual identity (i.e., heterosexual or sexual minority, such as gay, lesbian, or bisexual) and gender identity (i.e., cisgender or transgender). 544 Service members selfreported their sexual and gender identities, mental health symptoms (i.e., overall mental health, suicidality, and anxiety, depressive, or posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD] symptoms), health risk behaviors (e.g., hazardous alcohol use, smoking), and demographics (e.g., age, race, officer vs. enlisted status). Generally, cisgender sexual minority Service members and transgender Service members reported poorer mental health and greater health risk behaviors than cisgender heterosexual Service members.

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