Sexual and mental wellbeing of non-binary populations: individual factors and overlapping identities

Abstract

Non-binary people’s identities defies binary understandings of gender, expanding beyond the men-women dichotomy. While quantitative studies including non-binary individuals have become more common, research often still fails to fully represent non-binary people’s experiences. Moreover, non-binary people are often considered as a monolith, which fails to represent the variety of individual factors and overlapping identities that might contribute to sexual and health outcomes. The present thesis explores non-binary people’s sexual and mental wellbeing, while accounting for overlapping identities, particularly the overlap between being gender-diverse and autistic.
Study 1 is a systematic review of non-binary people’s sexual health and wellbeing, synthetising 44 quantitative papers. Studies 2 and 3 are survey-based exploratory studies. Study 2 included 822 participants, of whom 462 were non-binary, and looked at sexual wellbeing and sexual/ relationship satisfaction. Study 3 focused on autistic non-binary identities and included 461 non-binary participants, of whom 265 (57.5%) were autistic. This study is the first to explore sexual wellbeing, mental health and camouflaging in a non-binary autistic sample. The systematic review highlights gaps within the literature, with very few papers exploring satisfaction and sexual wellbeing with non-binary participants. This study also indicates that non-binary people are often excluded or grouped with binary trans people for inferential analysis. Lastly, it shows that most studies with non-binary people fail to report information linked to other minoritised statuses or separate demographic information.
In Study 2, non-binary people were found to have similar levels of sexual satisfaction and wellbeing to binary trans people, but reported significantly lower scores compared with binary cisgender people. Many demographic factors were associated with sexual outcomes, including being autistic or asexual, which were both associated with higher sexual wellbeing among non-binary people. Overall, sexual fluidity and having a physical disability and/or chronic health condition were associated with lower wellbeing and satisfaction among the non-binary participants, while being in a relationship and having transitioned socially and/or medically were linked to better sexual outcomes. Study 3 highlights higher scores of camouflaging for non-binary autistic people compared to non-binary non-autistic participants; however, similar scores for anxiety, depression and lifetime suicidal ideation were reported. Lower depression was linked to higher sexual wellbeing and higher camouflaging. Higher camouflaging was also linked to higher anxiety levels. However, sexual wellbeing was not associated with camouflaging. This is a novel result requiring further investigation. Together, the findings highlight disparities among gender-diverse and cisgender individuals in relation to sexual outcomes, while also pointing to the resilience of gender minority individuals and their partnerships. Concurrent minoritised statuses appear to shape wellbeing in unpredictable and complex ways, indicating the importance of considering other identities and demographic factors when investigating the sexual and mental health of non-binary people.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Fraedan Mastrantonio: orcid.org/0000-0002-9348-5427

ORCID for Heather Armstrong: orcid.org/0000-0002-1071-8644

ORCID for Hanna Kovshoff: orcid.org/0000-0001-6041-0376

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