Associations Between Antibisexual Discrimination From Heterosexual Versus Lesbian/Gay Sources and Bisexual People's Depression, Anxiety, and Psychological Distress: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Previous meta-analyses have shown that bisexual people are disproportionately more affected by depression, anxiety, and psychological distress compared to their monosexual counterparts (Ross et al., 2018; Wittgens et al., 2022). These disparities have been theorized to be, in part, the result of antibisexual discrimination. Antibisexual discrimination may come from heterosexual and lesbian/gay sources, both of which are associated with poorer mental health (Brewster & Moradi, 2010; Dyar et al., 2019). It remains unclear, however, to what extent the strength of the association differs by the source of the discrimination. This study is the first meta-analysis to provide a comprehensive quantitative synthesis of the associations between antibisexual discrimination from heterosexual versus lesbian/gay sources and bisexual people's depression, anxiety, and psychological distress. We synthesized findings from 22 studies (including 11 unpublished studies) of 7,314 participants. Small but significant source effects were observed. Antibisexual discrimination was significantly associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and psychological distress, but the associations were significantly stronger for antibisexual discrimination from heterosexual sources compared to lesbian/gay sources. In support of a cumulative exposure explanation, these source effects were significantly larger in magnitude in studies where participants reported more antibisexual discrimination from heterosexual sources. Findings were robust to a range of possible study and participant-related moderators. Given the pervasiveness of antibisexual stigma, interventions are needed to address discrimination against bisexual people, especially from heterosexual sources, and its impact on mental health.