A longitudinal birth cohort study of early life conditions, psychosocial factors, and emerging adolescent sexual orientation

TY - JOUR

T1 - A longitudinal birth cohort study of early life conditions, psychosocial factors, and emerging adolescent sexual orientation

AU - Xu, Yin

AU - Norton, Sam

AU - Rahman, Qazi

PY - 2020/1/1

Y1 - 2020/1/1

N2 - This study tested whether previously reported associations between early life factors and later adolescent sexual orientation could be replicated in another prospective birth cohort, the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). We used data on 9795 youth from the MCS. Emerging sexual orientation was assessed using measures of sexual attraction to males and females in separate items at 14 years. Factors including birthweight, breastfeeding, sibling composition, parental ages, maternal psychopathology, parent-child relationship, and contextual risks were separated into three developmental periods: prenatal (n = 5 factors), before 7 years (n = 6 factors), and after 7 years (n = 5 factors). We controlled for handedness as a putative marker of prenatal androgen exposure and the possibility of mischievous responding statistically. Girls with greater maternal psychological distress since age 7 and greater pubertal body mass index were more likely to be nonheterosexual but the effect sizes were very small. Among boys there were no significant associations between any early life conditions and later sexual orientation. However, focusing on effect sizes rather than significance levels, there were small associations between preterm birth and nonheterosexuality. The results offer further evidence that psychosocial influences in the development of adolescent sexual orientation are weak or non-existent.

AB - This study tested whether previously reported associations between early life factors and later adolescent sexual orientation could be replicated in another prospective birth cohort, the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). We used data on 9795 youth from the MCS. Emerging sexual orientation was assessed using measures of sexual attraction to males and females in separate items at 14 years. Factors including birthweight, breastfeeding, sibling composition, parental ages, maternal psychopathology, parent-child relationship, and contextual risks were separated into three developmental periods: prenatal (n = 5 factors), before 7 years (n = 6 factors), and after 7 years (n = 5 factors). We controlled for handedness as a putative marker of prenatal androgen exposure and the possibility of mischievous responding statistically. Girls with greater maternal psychological distress since age 7 and greater pubertal body mass index were more likely to be nonheterosexual but the effect sizes were very small. Among boys there were no significant associations between any early life conditions and later sexual orientation. However, focusing on effect sizes rather than significance levels, there were small associations between preterm birth and nonheterosexuality. The results offer further evidence that psychosocial influences in the development of adolescent sexual orientation are weak or non-existent.

KW - adolescence

KW - causes

KW - homosexuality

KW - millennium cohort study

KW - prospective birth cohort

KW - sex differences

KW - sexual orientation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85070517409&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1002/dev.21894

DO - 10.1002/dev.21894

M3 - Article

SN - 0012-1630

VL - 62

SP - 5

EP - 20

JO - Developmental Psychobiology

JF - Developmental Psychobiology

IS - 1

ER -