Longitudinal disparities in psychological distress and mental health symptoms in Canadian lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender-diverse midlife and older adults: Findings from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA)

OBJECTIVES: Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) and transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) people experience mental health disparities across the lifespan, yet little research has examined these trajectories into later adulthood; this study sought to fill this gap. METHOD: We analyzed data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) using linear mixed models to compare longitudinal trajectories of mental health outcomes between gay/lesbian (n = 751), bisexual (n = 286), and heterosexual (n = 43,918) people, and between TGD (n = 24) and cisgender (n = 45,055) people. RESULTS: LGB adults reported significantly higher psychological distress and depression symptoms, and lower life satisfaction, compared to heterosexual people. Overall trajectory patterns were similar across groups, except bisexual adults showed distinct patterns whereby their rate of decline in psychological distress and depression slowed less at older ages, though baseline disparities persisted. TGD adults reported lower life satisfaction compared to cisgender men, though this finding should be interpreted cautiously. Across all participants, mental health outcomes followed quadratic patterns with age, declining into early older adulthood before leveling off. These disparities persisted across older adulthood but did not significantly change over time, suggesting stability in mental health differences rather than convergence or widening disparities. In contrast, no significant mental health disparities emerged between TGD and cisgender adults, though this finding likely reflects the small sample of TGD participants. CONCLUSION: Our findings support minority stress theory, suggesting that cumulative exposure to minority stressors contributes to persistent disparities in LGBT older adults, while revealing complex age-related patterns that may reflect stress-resilience interactions over time.