Sexual identity change among Australian women: Patterns, predictors and outcomes

Abstract

Sexual minority status is a well-established risk factor for poor health outcomes. However, this evidence is based overwhelmingly on cross-sectional analyses, which fail to account for the potentially dynamic nature of sexual orientation over the life course. New theories have recently been proposed that treat sexual orientation and sexual identity as potentially dynamic phenomena shaped by a person’s social, cultural, political, biographical and interpersonal contexts. Yet, empirical evidence supporting these perspectives remains sparse, with very few analyses of large population samples and virtually no evidence originating outside the United States. In this thesis I examine how social and historical contexts shape women’s sexual identity trajectories and, in turn, how women’s sexual identity trajectories shape their health and wellbeing outcomes. To do this, I leverage large-scale, longitudinal survey data from two birth cohorts of Australian women (born 1973-1978 and 1989-1995).