Emotional discomfort associated with sexual orientation in the elderly.

Abstract

Introduction. At present, despite some advances in the legal rights of people with sexual-affective diversity, there are still related social prejudices. This fact is multiplied in the elderly, who have suffered a more homophobic education and a greater invisibility of their sexuality, so it is necessary to investigate in this population too. Method. 139 people participated, between 50 and 73 years old, with an average of 56.1 years old (SD=5.44), being 40.3% women and 59.7% men. 89.9% self-defined as heterosexual and 10.1% as non-heterosexual. All of them completed a questionnaire about the experience of their sexual orientation. Results. 50% of non-heterosexual people have felt rejectiondue to their sexual orientation, 42.9% have experienced discomfort, 28.6% suffered verbal violence and 14.3% physical violence. Thus, significant differences are observed between non-heterosexual and heterosexual people in various aspects related to their sexual orientation, being non-heterosexual those who show greater emotional distress (χ²=20.61, p smaller than .000), more doubts about their orientation (χ²=15.01; p smaller than .000), suffering more verbal violence (²=18.03; p smaller than .000) and more physical violence (χ²=18.11; p smaller than .000). Conclusions. These findings confirm that the social rejection of some sexual orientations can be a source of emotional discomfort, as well as a risk factor to be a victim of violence. In general, people with a non-heterosexual orientation would show greater emotional affectation and greater probability of suffering aggressions. In order to improve this situation, we should analyze what variables can mediate in these results to establish adequate prevention and intervention strategies throughout the life cycle.