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Study

Heterosexual Men Have One-Third Higher Stress Levels Than Gay, Bisexual Men

C. Price

Written by: C. Price

C. Price

C. Price is part of DatingAdvice.com's content team. She writes advice articles, how-to guides, and studies — all relating to dating, relationships, love, sex, and more.

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Lillian Castro

Lillian Guevara-Castro brings more than 30 years of journalism experience to ensure DatingAdvice articles have been edited for overall clarity, accuracy, and reader engagement. She has worked at The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, The Gwinnett Daily News, and The Gainesville Sun covering lifestyle topics.

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Amber Brooks

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A study suggests straight men suffer more depression than gay and bisexual men.

Published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, the study found straight men have one-third higher levels of stress than gay and bisexual men.

Researchers measured stress levels of 87 men and women (with an average age of 25) through a combination of questionnaires and biological testing.

Researchers evaluated depression, anxiety and current feelings of “burnout” of each participant. The biological portion of the study consisted of saliva, urine and blood samples, which tested cortisol levels.

“Straight men have one-third higher levels

of stress than gay and bisexual men.”

After reviewing both sets of results, researchers found gay and bisexual men experienced significantly lower levels of stress than straight men, even after accounting for the fact closeted gay and bisexual men demonstrated greater stress levels than their open counterparts.

Researchers suggested gay and bisexual men may develop superior coping mechanisms than straight men.

They also noted gay and bisexual men tend to be healthier and in better shape than straight men, a point that impacted their results due to the fact clinical indexes for personal stress take weight and body-fat percentages into consideration.

By contrast, the study found lesbian and bisexual women experienced greater stress than heterosexual females.

Source: Psychosomatic Medicine.