# Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity, Socioeconomic Status, and Health across the Life Course

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2021 · $668,481

## Abstract

Abstract
Socioeconomic status (SES) is a fundamental contributor to health and disease across the life course.
Inequalities in health that disfavor sexual and gender minorities have been widely documented in both
adolescence and adulthood. Despite the importance of SES to health, knowledge about factors that pattern
these resources and strains across sexual and gender minority groups is incomplete, largely because of the
absence of appropriate and high quality data, as well as study design limitations for data that do exist. In
synchrony with the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) Wave V program
project design and activity, this proposed ancillary project will collect, clean, disseminate, and analyze new
data from a subset of the Add Health cohort (sexual minorities, transgendered individuals, and a comparison
sample of heterosexuals) via a theory-guided ancillary survey that will add information about formative
experiences more specific to sexual orientation and gender development, and enhance existing prospective
information about SES and determinants of SES. Based on Wave IV data we plan to recruit approximately
2,200 self-identified sexual/gender minorities and a random comparison sample of 1,500 heterosexuals. The
unique data collected via this project will provide an unprecedented opportunity for new and current Add Health
users to prospectively study the intersections of sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic factors, and
health in a population-based sample across the life course at only marginal cost. Positioned within a life course
framework and guided by Minority Stress Theory, we will also address three substantive analytical aims using
the released ancillary data: 1) to describe the timing and sequence of theoretical milestones in the
development of sexual orientation and gender identity; 2) to examine potential mediators (i.e., parent-child
relationship quality and subsequent adolescent educational attainment and housing status) of the association
between sexual orientation, gender identity, and young adult SES; and 3) to test a hypothesized pathway that
economic strain heightens stress, which in turn elevates depressive symptoms. Findings made possible
through these new data, in combination with existing longitudinal information about Add Health sample
members, have the potential for critical impact on public health policy and intervention strategies to reduce the
prevalence of and disparities in disease burden for the sexual and gender minority population.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10150889
- **Project number:** 5R01HD087365-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Kerith Jane Conron
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $668,481
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-21 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10150889

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10150889, Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity, Socioeconomic Status, and Health across the Life Course (5R01HD087365-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10150889. Licensed CC0.

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