Social indicators of health and wellbeing of Icelandic students according to sexual orientation: 2006 to 2018

Abstract

A large proportion of Icelandic adolescents aged 16 years (class 10 at school) responded to the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey in 2006 (43.8%), 2010 (78.6%), 2014 (80.1%), and 2018 (50.4%). The participants were asked questions covering topics such as health, liking school, life satisfaction, and bullying. Objective(s): The objective was to examine changes to various health and social indicators over time according to an individual’s sexual orientation. Method: Questions relating to each of the health and social indicators of interest from the Icelandic HBSC survey were examined. Results: Changes over time indicate that the situation for LGB adolescents, compared to heterosexual adolescents, was generally worse in 2010 than in 2006. However, some improvements in wellbeing from 2010 to 2014 and again from 2014 to 2018 has since been seen. The 2018 levels are generally much better than those seen in 2006. Conclusions: Life for sexual minority adolescents in Iceland appears to be improving across various health and social indicators.