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Developmental Latent Patterns of Identification as Mostly Heterosexual Versus Lesbian, Gay, or Bisexual
Author(s) -
Calzo Jerel P.,
Masyn Katherine E.,
Austin S. Bryn,
Jun HeeJin,
Corliss Heather L.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of research on adolescence
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.342
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1532-7795
pISSN - 1050-8392
DOI - 10.1111/jora.12266
Subject(s) - lesbian , sexual orientation , latent class model , psychology , sexual minority , sexual identity , longitudinal study , developmental psychology , heterosexuality , identity (music) , coming out , identification (biology) , gender identity , homosexuality , gender studies , social psychology , human sexuality , sociology , statistics , physics , mathematics , acoustics , psychoanalysis , botany , biology
Scant research exists on the development of mostly heterosexual identity, the largest sexual orientation minority subgroup. We used longitudinal latent class analysis to characterize the patterns of identification with lesbian, gay, bisexual ( LGB ), or mostly heterosexual identities from ages 12 to 23 in 13,859 youth (57% female) in a U.S. national cohort. Three classes emerged: completely heterosexual (88.2%), mostly heterosexual (9.5%), and LGB (2.4%). LGB class youth generally identified with sexual minority identities by ages 12–17. In contrast, mostly heterosexual class youth identified with sexual minority identities gradually, with steady increases in endorsement starting at the age of 14. Developmental implications of these differential patterns are discussed.