TY - JOUR

T1 - Self-esteem Among Young Bisexual Women in Norway

T2 - A 13-year Longitudinal Study

AU - Buer, Liliana

AU - Anderssen, Norman

AU - Malterud, Kirsti

AU - Kvalem, Ingela Lundin

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between self-esteem, perception of social acceptance and feeling of loneliness in a sample of young bisexual, lesbian and heterosexual women, including assessing self-esteem longitudinally across 13 years. The analyses were based on self-completed questionnaires from the longitudinal study “Young in Norway” (13 years follow-up, 1992-2005). N=1,598 female participants at baseline and follow-up (45 bisexual women, 21 lesbian women, 1,532 heterosexual women), age 25-32 years at follow-up. At baseline, there were no differences in self-esteem, but at follow-up bisexual women reported lower self-esteem, lower levels of perceived acceptance, and higher levels of loneliness. For bisexual women, self-esteem did not increase from adolescence to adulthood. At follow-up, loneliness had a stronger connection with self-esteem among bisexual women compared to lesbian and heterosexual women. Different mechanisms may be involved in the self-esteem among bisexual, lesbian, and heterosexual women.

AB - The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between self-esteem, perception of social acceptance and feeling of loneliness in a sample of young bisexual, lesbian and heterosexual women, including assessing self-esteem longitudinally across 13 years. The analyses were based on self-completed questionnaires from the longitudinal study “Young in Norway” (13 years follow-up, 1992-2005). N=1,598 female participants at baseline and follow-up (45 bisexual women, 21 lesbian women, 1,532 heterosexual women), age 25-32 years at follow-up. At baseline, there were no differences in self-esteem, but at follow-up bisexual women reported lower self-esteem, lower levels of perceived acceptance, and higher levels of loneliness. For bisexual women, self-esteem did not increase from adolescence to adulthood. At follow-up, loneliness had a stronger connection with self-esteem among bisexual women compared to lesbian and heterosexual women. Different mechanisms may be involved in the self-esteem among bisexual, lesbian, and heterosexual women.

KW - sexual minority women

KW - bisexual women

KW - self-esteem

KW - social acceptance

KW - loneliness

U2 - 10.1080/15299716.2017.1394245

DO - 10.1080/15299716.2017.1394245

M3 - Journal article

VL - 17

SP - 487

EP - 507

JO - Journal of Bisexuality

JF - Journal of Bisexuality

SN - 1529-9716

IS - 4

ER -