Lesbian and gay individuals face unique experiences and expectations associated with growing older.
Methods
In a pilot study of perceptions of aging in lesbian and gay adults, 45 gay and 46 lesbian adult participants (ages = 55–87, 70% white) self-reported their health, perceptions of aging, community engagement, identity congruence, and stressful experiences.
Results
Accounting for age, health, subjective socioeconomic status, and race/ethnicity, lesbian women reported better self-perceptions of aging than gay men (b = 0.50, SE = 0.16, p < .01). Greater outness (b = 0.04, SE = 0.01, p = .01) and fewer daily stressful experiences (b = −0.14, SE = 0.05, p < .01) were associated with better self-perceptions of aging. In contrast, LGBTQ+ community engagement (b = −0.11, SE = 0.12, p = .38) showed no relation.
Discussion
The study provides a preliminary model of how lesbian and gay adults view their aging and identifies psychosocial risk and resilience factors.
AlmeidaD. M.WethingtonE.KesslerR. C. (2002). The daily inventory of stressful events: An interview-based approach for measuring daily stressors. Assessment, 9(1), 41–55. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191102091006
2.
BarrettA. E.GumberC. (2018). Feeling old, body and soul: The effect of aging body reminders on age identity. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 75(3), 625–629. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gby085
3.
BlackK.OhP. (2021). Assessing age-friendly community progress: What have we learned?The Gerontologist, 62(1), 6–17. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnab051
4.
BradfordJ. B.PutneyJ. M.ShepardB. L.SassS. E.RudicelS.LaddH.CahillS. (2016). Healthy aging in community for older lesbians. LGBT Health, 3(2), 109–115. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2015.0019
5.
ChenJ.McLarenH.JonesM.ShamsL. (2020). The aging experiences of LGBTQ ethnic minority older adults: A systematic review. The Gerontologist, 62(3), e162–e177. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaa134
6.
ChopikW. J.GiassonH. L. (2017). Age differences in explicit and implicit age attitudes across the life span. The Gerontologist, 57(suppl_2), S169–S177. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnx058
7.
DunkleJ. S. (2018). Indifference to the difference? Older lesbian and gay men's perceptions of aging services. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 61(4), 432–459. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2018.1451939
8.
EroshevaE. A.KimH. J.EmletC.Fredriksen-GoldsenK. I. (2016). Social networks of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender older adults. Research. on Aging, 38(1), 98–123. https://doi.org/10.1177/0164027515581859
9.
Fredriksen-GoldsenK. (2022). Blueprint for future research advancing the study of sexuality, gender, and equity in later life: Lessons learned from aging with pride, the national health, aging, and sexuality/gender study (NHAS). The Gerontologist, 63(2), 373–381. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnac146
10.
Fredriksen-GoldsenK. I. (2017). Dismantling the silence: LGBTQ aging emerging from the margins. The Gerontologist, 57(1), 121–128. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnw159
11.
Fredriksen-GoldsenK. I.KimH. J.BryanA. E.ShiuC.EmletC. A. (2017). The cascading effects of marginalization and pathways of resilience in attaining good health among LGBT older adults. The Gerontologist, 57(suppl 1), S72–S83. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnw170
12.
Fredriksen-GoldsenK. I.SimoniJ. M.KimH. J.LehavotK.WaltersK. L.YangJ.Hoy-EllisC. P.MuracoA. (2014). The health equity promotion model: Reconceptualization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) health disparities. The American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 84(6), 653–663. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000030
13.
GendronT. L.WellefordE. A.InkerJ.WhiteJ. T. (2016). The language of ageism: Why we need to use words carefully. The Gerontologist, 56(6), 997–1006. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnv066
14.
GuestM. A. (2021). Sexual and gender identity in older age. In DoddS. (Ed.), The routledge international handbook of social work and sexualities (pp. 195–204). Routledge.
15.
GuestM. A.HunterE. G. (2022). Identifying barriers to care and support: Aging in central Kentucky. Local Development & Society, 3(2), 153–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/26883597.2021.1928534
16.
GuestM. A.HunterE. G.SchoenbergN. E. (2023). Making home: The role of social networks on identity, health, and quality of life among rural lesbian and gay older adults. Innovation in Aging, 7(7), 1–12.https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igad082
17.
HarrisP. A.TaylorR.MinorB. L.ElliottV.FernandezM.O'NealL.McLeodL.DelacquaG.DelacquaF.KirbyJ.DudaS. N. (2019). The REDCap consortium: Building an international community of software platform partners. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 95(103208). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2019.103208
18.
HillmanJ. (2017). The sexuality and sexual health of LGBT elders. Annual Review of Gerontology & Geriatrics, 37(1), 13–26. https://doi.org/10.1891/0198-8794.37.13
19.
HuR. X.LiL. W. (2022). Social disconnectedness and loneliness: Do self-perceptions of aging play a role?The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 77(5), 936–945. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbac008
20.
KittleK. R.BoernerK.KimK.Fredriksen-GoldsenK. I. (2022a). The role of contextual factors in the health care utilization of aging LGBT adults. The Gerontologist, 63(4), 741–750. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnac137
21.
KittleK. R.BoernerK.KimK.Fredriksen-GoldsenK. I. (2022b). Social resource variations among LGBT middle-aged and older adults: The intersections of sociodemographic characteristics. The Gerontologist, 62(9), 1324–1335. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnac021
22.
Kleinspehn-AmmerlahnA.Kotter-GrunD.SmithJ. (2008). Self-Perceptions of aging: Do subjective age and satisfaction with aging change during old age?Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 63B(6), P377–P385. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/63.6.P377
23.
LawtonM. P. (1975). The Philadelphia geriatric center morale scale: A Revision1. Journal of Gerontology, 30(1), 85–89. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronj/30.1.85
24.
LeeS. (2020). Social exclusion and subjective well-being among older adults in Europe: Findings from the European social survey. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 76(2), 425–434. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa172
LevyB. R. (2017). Age-Stereotype paradox: Opportunity for social change. The Gerontologist, 57(suppl_2), S118–S126. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnx059
27.
LevyB. R.PietrzakR. H.SladeM. D. (2023). Societal impact on older persons’ chronic pain: Roles of age stereotypes, age attribution, and age discrimination. Social Science & Medicine, 323(115772), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115772
28.
LevyB. R.SladeM. D.ChangE.-S.KannothS.WangS.-Y. (2018). Ageism amplifies cost and prevalence of health conditions. The Gerontologist, 60(1), 174–181. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gny131
29.
MajeeW.AziatoL.JoosteK.AnakweA. (2018). The graying of rural America: Community engagement and health promotion challenges. Health Promotion Practice, 19(2), 267–276. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839917714768
30.
MeidlingerP. C.HopeD. A. (2014). Differentiating disclosure and concealment in measurement of outness for sexual minorities: The Nebraska outness scale. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 1(4), 489–497. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000080
31.
MuracoA.Fredriksen-GoldsenK. (2011). That's what friends do": Informal caregiving for chronically ill midlife and older lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 28(8), 1073–1092. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407511402419
32.
MuracoA.Fredriksen-GoldsenK. I. (2016). Turning points in the lives of lesbian and gay adults age 50 and over. Advances in Life Course Research, 30(12), 124–132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2016.06.002
33.
National Academies of Sciences, E., & Medicine. (2020). Understanding the well-being of LGBTQI+ populations. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25877
34.
National Academies of Sciences, E., & Medicine. (2022). Measuring sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26424
35.
NgR.ChowT. Y. J.YangW. (2022). The impact of aging policy on societal age stereotypes and ageism. The Gerontologist, 62(4), 598–606. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnab151
36.
PetersonN.LeeJ.SvecJ.RussellD. (2023). Diversity in social communication and support: Implications for loneliness among LGB adults. The Gerontologist, 63(2), 361–372. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnac101
37.
RowanN. L.GiuntaN.GrudowskiE. S.AndersonK. A. (2013). Aging well and gay in rural America: A case study. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 56(3), 185–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2012.754813
SouthJ. (2014). Health promotion by communities and in communities: Current issues for research and practice. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 42(15 Suppl), 82–87. https://doi.org/10.1177/1403494814545341
40.
StoneA. L. (2018). The geography of research on LGBTQ life: Why sociologists should study the south, rural queers, and ordinary cities. Sociology Compass, 12(11), e12638. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12638
41.
SunJ. K.SmithJ. (2017). Self-Perceptions of aging and perceived barriers to care: Reasons for health care delay. The Gerontologist, 57(suppl_2), S216–S226. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnx014
42.
TaylorM. G.MinS. N.ReidK. M. (2018). Cumulative inequality at the End of life?: Racial disparities in impairment in the time before death. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 75(6), 1292–1301. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gby129
43.
WaggonerP. D.KennedyR.CliffordS. (2019). Detecting fraud in online surveys by tracing, scoring, and visualizing IP addresses. Journal of Open Source Software, 4(37), 1285. https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.01285
44.
WilliamsK. A.DakinE. K.LipschutzA. (2022). LGBT+ older adults in rural south central appalachia: Perceptions of current and future formal service needs. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 65(2), 217–238. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2021.1953661
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
