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Living longer lives within a shifting historical and social context is a reality for LGBT adults in later life. This study investigates the roles of stigma, historical trauma, and identity management as mechanisms that promote or hinder health, and their relationship to generativity. We utilized fixed effect models to examine these associations analyzing longitudinal data (T0 to T2, N= 2,450) from Aging with Pride: National Health, Aging, and Sexuality/Gender Study.

Recent population-based studies indicate that sexual minorities aged 50 and older experience significantly higher rates of psychological distress than their heterosexual age-peers. The minority stress model has been useful in explaining disparately high rates of psychological distress among younger sexual minorities. The purpose of this study is to test a hypothesized structural relationship between two minority stressors—internalized heterosexism and concealment of sexual orientation—and consequent psychological distress among a sample of 2,349 lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults aged 50 to 95 years old.