Different Categorizations of Women's Sexual Orientation Reveal Unique Health Outcomes in a Nationally Representative U.S. Sample.

BACKGROUND: Sexual minority women (i.e., women minoritized for their sexualities) are identified as high risk for mental health and substance use problems; however, there is no consensus on the criteria by which women are categorized as sexual minority. Though there is some evidence suggesting that certain subgroups of women are at higher risk than others based on sexual orientation, different categorization schemes for sexual orientation have yet to be compared within the same sample. METHOD: Using data from the National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions-III (N = 19,528), we examined how multiple categorization schemes (i.e., identity, behavior, recency of sexual behavior) for categorizing women who have sex with women (WSW) yield different estimates of prevalence of mental health and substance use issues. We used chi-square and logistic regression to analyze the link between sexual orientation categorization schemes and health, categorizing by 1) self-identification only, 2) behavior only, and 3) the combination of self-identification and behavior (recent vs. past). RESULTS: We discovered high prevalence rates of health problems among heterosexual-identified WSW who reported no recent sexual activity with women (i.e., previously had sex with women but not within the past 12 months); this category of women comprised 35% of all WSW. DISCUSSION: Step by step, we found more detailed information about these women's experiences by moving to the complex categorization scheme (the combination of self-identification and behavior). Heterosexual-identified women who have had sex with women in their past (though not recently) presented as a large group with high prevalence rates of substance use and mental disorders. These women remain invisible to researchers who categorize sexual orientation only by sexual identity or by behavior and ignore the role of behavior change over time-imprecisely categorizing such women as heterosexual or as women who have sex with men. They thus are underserved by health research and represent a significant population for further study and intervention.

Missing perspective: Marginalized groups in the social psychological study of social disparities.

Drawing on interdisciplinary, feminist insights, we encourage social psychologists to embrace the active participation of marginalized groups in social disparities research. We explain (1) how the absence of marginalized groups' perspectives in research presents a serious challenge to understanding intergroup dynamics and concomitant disparities, and (2) how their inclusion could assuage some of social psychology's "fatal flaws."

Femininity Concerns and Feelings About Menstruation Cessation Among Lesbian, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Women: Implications for Menopause.

Background: Women differ in how they psychologically respond to the end of menstruation and onset of menopause; however, little empirical evidence exists for understanding how sexual orientation and gendered dynamics contribute to menstrual experiences in middle-to-late adulthood. We investigated if women's attitudes toward the cessation of menstruation vary by their sexual orientation. Methods: Using data from the Midlife in the United States Study (MIDUS, N = 3471), we examined the relationship between women's sexual orientation and attitudes toward menstruation cessation. We also assessed their femininity concerns, such as their worries about attractiveness and fertility in the context of aging. Results: Sexual minority (SM) women, compared with their heterosexual counterparts, expressed less regret of their menstrual periods ending. SM women also expressed lower concerns about femininity compared with heterosexual women, and concerns about femininity mediated the relationship between sexual orientation and regret. That is, SM women felt less regret about menstrual periods ending than heterosexual women, and this finding was partially explained through SM women's lower concerns about femininity (attractiveness and fertility). Conclusions: Our results contribute to a growing body of research on the psychological strengths of sexual minorities by highlighting SM women's potential strengths in an aging context. We propose implications for understanding aging stigma and women's health, and we discuss how menopause may be differently experienced by women based on sexual orientation.

Gender Similarities and Differences in Casual Sex Acceptance Among Lesbian Women and Gay Men.

Popular wisdom and scientific evidence suggest women desire and engage in casual sex less frequently than men; however, theories of gender differences in sexuality are often formulated in light of heterosexual relations. Less is understood about sexual behavior among lesbian and gay people, or individuals in which there is arguably less motivation to pursue sex for reproductive purposes and fewer expectations for people to behave in gender-typical ways. Drawing from scripts theory and pleasure theory, in two studies (N1 = 465; N2 = 487) we examined lesbian and gay people's acceptance of casual sex. We asked participants who had been propositioned for casual sex whether they accepted the offer and to rate their perceptions of the proposer's sexual capabilities and sexual orientation. They also reported on their awareness of stigma surrounding casual sex. We found a gender difference in acceptance: Gay men were more likely than lesbian women to have accepted a casual sex offer from other gay/lesbian people, and this difference was mediated by participants' stigma awareness. We also found the proposer's sexual orientation played a role in people's acceptance. Lesbian women and gay men were equally likely to accept offers from bisexual proposers but expressed different acceptance rates with "straight-but-curious" proposers, which was mediated by expected pleasure. We discuss dynamics within lesbian and gay communities and implications for studying theories of sexual behavior and gender differences beyond heterosexual contexts.

Severe western Canadian wildfire affects water quality even at large basin scales.

Wildfires can have severe and lasting impacts on the water quality of aquatic ecosystems. However, our understanding of these impacts is founded primarily from studies of small watersheds with well-connected runoff regimes. Despite the predominance of large, low-relief rivers across the fire-prone Boreal forest, it is unclear to what extent and duration wildfire-related material (e.g., ash) can be observed within these systems that typically buffer upstream disturbance signals. Following the devastating 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire in western Canada, we initiated a multi-faceted water quality monitoring program that suggested brief (hours to days) wildfire signatures could be detected in several large river systems, particularly following rainfall events greater than 10 mm. Continuous monitoring of flow and water quality showed distinct, precipitation-associated signatures of ash transport in rivers draining expansive (800-100,000 km2) and partially-burned (<1-22 percent burned) watersheds, which were not evident in nearby unburned regions. Yields of suspended sediment, nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus) and metals (lead, others) from impacted rivers were 1.2-10 times greater than from those draining unburned regions. Post-fire suspended sediment concentrations in impacted rivers were often larger than pre-fire 95% prediction intervals based on several years of water sampling. These multiple lines of evidence indicate that low-relief landscapes can mobilize wildfire-related material to rivers similarly, though less-intensively and over shorter durations, than headwater regions. We propose that uneven mixing of heavily-impacted tributaries with high-order rivers may partially explain detection of wildfire signals in these large systems that may impact downstream water users.