Health and Wellbeing of Sexual and Gender Minority Graduate Students

Although extensive literature describes the health disparities faced by sexual and gender minority individuals, very little research has examined the graduate student population specifically. Furthermore, much research about SGM populations does not separate sexual and gender minority identities in analyses, potentially obscuring differences between these groups. In the current study, 437 graduate students (23.8% with an SGM identity) across seven college campuses participated in a survey about their campus experiences and health. We examined the relationship between SGM identity and depression, physical health, perceived stress, and happiness through stepwise regressions. We controlled for the effects of other demographic variables (age, racial/ethnic minority identity, female gender, international student status, and non-traditional student status) by running them as the first block of our regression, with sexual minority and gender minority identities as the second block. In all four health and wellbeing regressions the SGM identity block explained a significant amount of the measure's variance beyond the block of other demographic variables. The other demographic variables explained a significant amount of the variance in depression, perceived stress, and happiness scores, but not in physical health scores. Age, sexual minority identity, and gender minority identity were significant predictors of depression, such that younger, sexual and gender minority students had higher depression scores. Women, gender minority students, and sexual minority students reported significantly more physical health concerns. Age and sexual minority identity were significant predictors of perceived stress, with younger and sexual minority students endorsing higher stress. Lastly, happiness was significantly predicted by the woman, age, and gender minority variables, such that female, older, and cisgender students reported higher happiness. These results indicate that the health disparities observed for sexual and gender minority individuals largely apply to graduate students as well. Healthcare providers and universities should consider actions aimed at reducing these health disparities.