Association of Depression and Anxiety with Sexual Orientation in a Convenience Sample of Latvian Young Adults

Aim of the study: To examine sexual orientation among Latvian young adults aged 18 to 30 years and its association with symptoms of depression and anxiety. Material and methods: Data were obtained through a self-administered, anonymous, web-based survey. To evaluate the relationships among variables, descriptive statistics as well as univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted. Results: A total of 503 individuals participated in the study, comprising 365 females, 133 males, and 5 participants identifying as other genders. The mean age of respondents was 23.0 years (SD = 3.7). The mean Kinsey score was 1.4 (SD = 1.8), with a median of 1.0 (IQR: 0–2.0), where a score of 1 corresponds to individuals who are predominantly heterosexual with minimal same-sex attraction, and a score of 2 indicates predominantly heterosexual individuals with more than minimal same-sex attraction. Exposure to violence was reported by 20.3% of participants. The prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms was 56.3% and 37.6%, respectively. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that a history of violence was significantly associated with increased odds of both anxiety (OR = 2.6; 95% CI: 1.7–4.0) and depression (OR = 2.4; 95% CI: 1.5–3.9). Male gender and a monthly income in the range of €1001–€2000 were associated with reduced odds of experiencing anxiety (OR = 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2–0.5, and aOR = 0.3; 95% CI: 0.1–0.8, respectively). Conclusions: No statistically significant association was found between sexual orientation and the presence of anxiety or depression symptoms (OR = 1.1; 95% CI: 1.0–1.2 and OR = 1.1; 95% CI: 1.02–1.2, respectively).