Self-rated Health and Inflammation: Associations Among Partnered Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Adults.

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Health Psychology: Official Journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 2026, v. 47, no. 7: Self-rated Health and Inflammation: Associations Among Partnered Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Adults.
• Journal Article:
  Health Psychology: Official Journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association
• Personal Author:
  Christian, Lisa M. ; Andridge, Rebecca R. ; Peng, Juan ; McDade, Thomas W. ; Manning, Wendy D. ; Kamp Dush, Claire M.
• Description:
  Self-rated health (SRH), as measured by a single item, is a well-established and remarkably robust predictor of morbidity and mortality, yet few studies have examined its biological correlates across diverse sexual orientation identities.
  
  Using data from the population-representative National Couples' Health and Time study (NCHAT) and its biospecimen substudy (NCHAT-BIO), this study explored the relationship between lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, or other nonheterosexual identities (LGBQ+), SRH, and systemic inflammation. Among 3,477 partnered (married or cohabiting) cisgender adults, 42.6% identified as LGBQ+, and a subset of 652 (41.3% LGBQ+) provided dried blood spot samples analyzed for interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP).
  
  In the full NCHAT sample, LGBQ+ respondents reported significantly poorer SRH than their heterosexual peers (LGBQ+ vs. heterosexual:
  
  = 3.3574,
  
  = 3,466,
  
  value < .001). In the NCHAT-BIO subsample, poorer SRH was significantly related to both higher IL-6 (β = -.23,
  
  = .042,
  
  < .0001) and higher CRP (β = -.41, SE = .054,
  
  < .0001), supporting the hypothesis that subjective health assessments may capture interoceptive awareness of inflammatory status. Importantly, the strength of the association between SRH and inflammation did not differ across groups based on sexual orientation and gender (Interaction
  
  value for IL-6: .46, for CRP: .39). The associations between SRH and inflammatory markers were slightly attenuated after inclusion of key health and behavioral covariates, suggesting potential mediating factors warranting future investigation.
  
  These findings replicate prior research on SRH and inflammation and extend them to LGBQ+ plus adults, underscoring the importance of inclusive health measurement. Given SRH's robust predictive power for future morbidity and mortality, integrating assessments of sexual orientation and biological markers offers critical insight for understanding and addressing health disparities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).
• Content Notes:
  Author manuscript
• Subjects:
  • Diagnostic Self Evaluation
  • Inflammation
  • Psychological Well-Being
  • Sexual and Gender Minorities
  • Homosexuality, Female
  • Homosexuality, Male
  • Heterosexuality
  • Health Behaviors
• Keywords:
  • self-rated health
  • inflammation
  • stress
  • psychological well-being
  • sexual minority
  • sexually diverse
  • LGBQ+
  • lesbian
  • gay
  • bisexual
  More +
• Source:
  Health Psychology: Official Journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 2026, v. 47, no. 7
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0001594
• ISSN:
  0278-6133 ; 1930-7810
• Pubmed ID:
  41801713
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC13007246
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Institute of Brain, Behavior, and Immunology/ ; CD/ODCDC CDC HHSUnited States/ ; R01 AG096920/AG/NIA NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R21 MD018158/MD/NIMHD NIH HHSUnited States/ ; OSU; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health/ ; Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development/
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Pages in Document:
  748-760 (26 pdf pages)
• Volume:
  47
• Issue:
  7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/260746/cdc_260746_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 783.46 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c6ecfc57a989306925f8db0173c35bbed343d0673e83ac81b4fd99dc9df0d6f13be727f1c491ac26575f8f78369a64582ad484cffd1b67512176b3122b28f1b3