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Graduate Student Journal of Psychology
2023, Vol. 20

Copyright 2023 by the Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology
Teachers College, Columbia University

Bouncing Back: Resilience, Aggression, and Depression 
in Older Gay Men and Lesbians

Tosha Griggs & Mark Vosvick
University of North Texas, Counseling Psychology Department

Older gay men and lesbians are at greater risk for depression due to a lifetime of sexual minority stress (Fredriksen-Goldsen 
et al., 2013). For gay men and lesbians, depression is associated with aggression and relationship problems (Bernards & 
Graham, 2013). However, aggression may foster resilience if aggression is expressed in a healthy, nonviolent manner that 
motivates a person to take positive action towards a greater purpose (Russell & Richards, 2003). What are the relation-
ships between aggression and resilience with depression in a sample of older gay men and lesbians; and do group differ-
ences exist? Data was collected from (N=50; Older gay men) and (N=50; Older lesbian women). SPSS 20 was used to run 
a multivariate analysis to test our overall model. Through a minority stress lens (Meyer, 1998), this study hypothesizes 
resilience moderates the relationship between aggression and depression. Significant differences between older gay men 
and older lesbians’ aggression, resilience, and depression scores exist. For the older gay men and lesbian combined group, 
a moderation analysis indicated that in addition to aggression and resilience being single significantly predicted depres-
sion accounting for approximately 57% of the variance in depression. Furthermore, resilience significantly moderated 
the relationship between aggression and depression in the model in the sample (N = 100) of older gay men and lesbians.
 Keywords: Older Adult, Minority Stress, Resilience

 Our study will examine how aggression, being 
single, and resilience are associated with depression 
in older gay men and lesbians, using resilience as a 
moderator. This study uses three groups to investigate 
group differences between older gay men and lesbians.

Background
 In general, older adulthood is associated with sta-
bility, better problem-solving skills, psychological ma-
turity, and wisdom (Mirowsky & Ross, 2001). How-
ever, older adulthood is also associated with financial 
strain, health-related issues, caregiving burdens, 
isolation, residential relocations, and bereavements 
of loved ones that negatively affect mental health 
in older adults (Moos, Schutte, Brennan & Moos, 
2005; Pearlin & Skaff, 1996; Wight, Harig, Aneshen-
sel & Detels, 2016). Older adults overwhelmed with 
age-related stressors may be at greater risk for mental 
distress and depression (Moos, Schutte, Brennan & 
Moos, 2005; Wight, LeBlanc, Meyer & Harig, 2015).
Depression and Sexual Minorities
 While previous results report the prevalence of 
depression decreases with older age in the sexual ma-
jority population, older gay men and lesbians contin-
ue to face risks that may increase their vulnerability to 
mental health issues (Grossman et al., 2001). Fredrik-
sen-Goldsen (2011) assessed the health risk factors of 
approximately 2,560 older gay men and older lesbians, 
between the ages of 50 to 95, and found an elevated 
risk of mental distress with approximately 31% of old-
er gay men and lesbians reporting depression, 53% 
reported loneliness and 27% experienced the death 

of a partner (Fredriksen-Goldsen, 2011). Similar to 
older sexual majority adults, older gay men and les-
bians experience challenges associated with declines 
in health, loss of friends, and family and adjustments 
to retirement (Van Wagenen et al., 2013); however 
older gay men and lesbians also experience victimiza-
tion related to their sexual minority status that older 
sexual majority adults do not (Fredriksen-Goldsen, 
2012; Grossman, D’Augelli & O’Connell, 2001).
 According to Meyer (1995), sexual minority stress 
is the chronic stress associated with sexual minority 
status and is different from normal day-to-today stress 
because it attacks an individual’s identity. When an in-
dividual deals with multiple stressors at the same time 
the various stressors may strain coping resources (Mey-
er, 2015; Rook, 1998). Older gay men and lesbians ma-
tured in a time when hate, discrimination, victimiza-
tion, and being labeled mentally ill were the norm, and 
overcoming adversity is a common theme in their de-
velopment (Kuyper & Fokkema, 2010; Keuzenkamp 
& Bos, 2007). Overtime the abuse, discrimination, and 
sexual minority stress associated with sexual minority 
status may have long-lasting effects on the physical and 
mental health of older gay men and lesbians (Fredrik-
sen-Goldsen et al., 2013; Hatzenbuehler, 2016).
 Additionally, evidence links minority stress to 
structural and health inequalities which can negatively 
impact mental and physical health outcomes in older 
gay men and lesbians (Zeeman et al., 2019). Struc-
tural inequalities are evident in the legal, educational, 
business, government, and healthcare systems (Bent-
ley, 2020). Structural inequalities are when a majority 



50

group sets rules and laws that serve the majority, while 
minority groups have limited access to resources (Bent-
ley, 2020). The interconnection of different identities 
and systems of oppression  may impact older gay men 
and lesbians differently based on the beliefs of the ma-
jority groups (Herek, 2002). For example, one study 
found that participants were more likely to regard gay 
men as mentally ill  and supported adoption rights 
for lesbians more than for gay men (Herek, 2002).
 Even though previous researchers argue that men 
and women may have more similarities than differ-
ences, the intersectionality of gender, age, and sexual 
minority status may alter this theory (Hyde, 2014). 
Because structural social inequalities exist, gender and 
sexual minority status differences may be important 
determinants of health to consider (Denton & Walters, 
1999). Therefore, models that investigate the intersec-
tionality of gender and sexual minority status, rather 
than just controlling for sex, may be more effective 
in predicting health outcomes for older gay men and 
lesbians (Denton & Walters, 1999). Just controlling 
for sex may conceal the effects that sexual minority 
stress may have on health and hinder a more com-
plete understanding of the effects different life experi-
ences may have on health (Denton & Walters, 1999).
 Furthermore, past studies focused more on col-
lecting and interpreting data, rather than developing 
a model that will better explain the data (Coburn 
& Eakin, 1993). Combining older gay men and les-
bians into one minority group will give us data to 
interpret; but without consideration of the inter-
sectionality, our generalizations may not adequate-
ly apply to the population (Hyde, 2014).  When the 
best model is considered for the data, better therapeu-
tic interventions develop that are beneficial and are 
more likely to be effective for multiple determinants 
of health (Denton & Walters, 1999; Hyde, 2014).
 Previous studies collapse older gay men and les-
bians into a single sexual minority group, and gen-
der differences within sexual minorities may exist 
and should be investigated (Fredriksen-Goldsen et 
al., 2010; Vosvick et al., 2010). For example, older 
gay men lived through and may have experienced 
personal trauma associated with the AIDS epidem-
ic (Rosenfeld et al., 2012). The AIDS epidemic is a 
defining moment because many older gay men expe-
rienced trauma associated with the death of friends 
and partners, while others had to learn how to cope 

with living with HIV/AIDS (Rosenfeld et al., 2012). 
 On the other hand, findings suggest depres-
sion is equally a concern for lesbians (Bradford et al., 
1994; Tait, 1997). In general, 25% of women experi-
ence depression in their lifetime (Salk et al., 2017) 
because of several economic, social, biological, and 
emotional factors (Reiss, 2013), with lesbians carry-
ing an extra burden because of sexual minority sta-
tus (Bostwick et al., 2019). Concealment of sexual 
identity, lack of employment, living in a rural area, 
and being single are all factors associated with depres-
sion for older lesbians (Oetjen & Rothblum, 2000).
Relationship Status and Depression
 For older gay men and lesbians, as well as the 
sexual majority of older adults, having a supportive 
partner is associated with a greater sense of well-be-
ing, positive physical health outcomes, and reported 
lower scores on loneliness and depressive symptoms 
(Grossman et al., 2001; Herek, 2006). For example, 
a longitudinal study reported older gay men and 
lesbians that reported being divorced/separated 
had poorer health and more depressive symptoms 
than those who were married (Luo et al., 2012).
Aggression and Sexual Minorities
 Aggression is defined as overtly hurtful behavior to-
wards a target in the form of verbal aggression (insults, 
sarcasm, and rudeness) or physical harm (Ramirez & 
Andreu, 2006). Previous results suggest verbal aggres-
sion is more common (Björkqvist, 2018). Researchers 
hypothesized that aggression may stem from exposure 
to different stressors and negative life experiences (Finch 
& Graziano, 2001). Therefore, older gay men and les-
bians who have experienced discrimination, victimiza-
tion, and sexual minority stress may be at an increased 
risk for aggression (Silove, 2009). While aggression 
might be an understandable reaction to mistreat-
ment, it may be potentially destructive (Offredi, 2016; 
Painuly et al., 2005) if the emotional expression is in-
ternalized or externalized (Bridewell & Chang, 1997).
Conversely, Russell & Richards (2003) reported 
aggression associated with anti-gay politics, may 
foster resilience if the aggression is expressed in a 
healthy manner that motivates a person to take pos-
itive action towards a greater purpose. Negative 
emotions associated with discrimination may ex-
ist concurrently with taking positive initiative be-
cause aggression may motivate collective action that 
promotes feelings of empowerment (Foster, 2000).

GRIGGS & VOSVICK



51

RESILIENCE MODERATES AGGRESSION AND DEPRESSION

 However, group differences in older gay mens’ 
and lesbians’ aggression may exist. For example, de-
pressed women report more verbal aggression than 
depressed men (Zuckerman, 1989). Averill (1983) and 
Frank, Carpenter, and Kupfer (1988) reported wom-
en to become verbally aggressive as often, as intensely, 
and for similar reasons as men. A different study re-
ported women may have greater difficulty expressing 
their anger; and may suppress their emotions (Kop-
per & Epperson, 1996). While some studies found 
no gender differences in aggression (Im et al., 2018).
 Furthermore, aggression is positively associated 
with relationship problems and separation (Bernards 
& Graham, 2013) especially if the aggression is uncon-
trollable (Baron et al., 2007; Offredi, 2016). Goldman 
& Hagga (1995) reported depressed individuals express 
more aggression towards their partner when compared 
to non-depressed individuals (Painuly et al., 2005).
Resilience and Sexual Minorities
 Even though current research reports being a sex-
ual minority is associated with negative mental health 
outcomes, most older gay men and lesbians successful-
ly cope with sexual minority stress (Fredriksen-Gold-
sen et al., 2017; Kaufman & Compton, 2021). Re-
silience in current literature has several different 
definitions, however, this study will define resilience as 
the ability to ‘bounce back’ from adversity (Colpitts & 
Gahagan, 2016; Herrick et al., 2014). Resilience is not 
a born trait, nor a skill that enables individuals to be 
resilient to all situations (Bonanno & Burton, 2013). 
Instead, resilience is a dynamic process that involves 
internal processes, external and environmental factors, 
and the specific strategies executed by an individual 
(Richardson & Waite, 2002). Although, these strate-
gies may change over a lifespan based on the challenge 
and resources available (Bonanno & Burton, 2013; 
Fletcher & Sarkar, 2013). Additionally, resilience is as-
sociated with positive health outcomes, well-being, life 
satisfaction, adaptive coping skills, and a decreased risk 
of depression (Hash & Rogers, 2013; Wagnild, 2003).
 Previous research collapsed older gay men and 
lesbians into a single sexual minority group; how-
ever, differences in resilience by gender should not 
be overlooked. For example, many older gay men 
learned self-reliance, survival skills, stress manage-
ment, and how to care for themselves earlier in life 
and may adjust to older adulthood more successful-
ly than sexual majority men (Hash & Rogers, 2013; 

Wight et al., 2012). Unfortunately, there is limited 
literature on older lesbians and resilience, however, 
older lesbians generally have increased social sup-
port and are less likely to live alone when compared 
to older gay men (Fredriksen-Goldsen et al., 2013).
 Older gay men and lesbians may experience in-
ternalized aggression due to a lifetime of sexual mi-
nority stress and  level of resilience may predict old-
er gay men and lesbians’ ability to ‘bounce back’ 
from adversity (Snyder et al., 1991). Additionally, 
unique experiences of  structural social inequalities 
may impact older gay men and lesbians different-
ly (Denton & Walters, 1999). Therefore a model 
that investigates these two groups separately will 
better explain our data (Coburn & Eakin, 1993).
Purpose of Present Study
 Through a minority stress lens, this study will 
examine what the relationships are between aggres-
sion, being single, resilience, and depression in old-
er gay men and lesbians, and the group differences 
(Meyer, 2003). This study hypothesizes aggression 
and being single are positively associated with depres-
sion. Resilience will be negatively associated with de-
pression. Aggression, resilience and being single will 
account for a significant proportion of variance in 
depression. Resilience will moderate the relationship 
between aggression and depression. A significant dif-
ference between older gay men’s and older lesbians’ 
aggression, resilience, and depression scores will exist. 

Method
Procedures
 After appropriate institutional review board ap-
proval was obtained, signed informed consent forms 
were obtained from all participants. The computerized 
self-report surveys were provided by the CPHR research 
team. Participant identity was completely anonymous, 
and the participants received an incentive of $25.
Participants
 Our NIH-certified research assistants admin-
istered a self-report survey to 50 gay cis-men and 50 
cis-gender lesbians, 50 years of age and older (N = 
100), living in the Dallas/Ft Worth (DFW) Metro-
plex and fluent in English. The CPHR team recruit-
ed participants from a variety of places in DFW, 
including local bars, LGBT-friendly churches, the 
Gay Pride Parade, community-based social groups, 
online social media, and professional organizations. 



52

This study will investigate three groups: an older 
gay men and lesbian combined group, an older gay 
men only group, and an older lesbian only group. 
Please see Tables 1, 2 &3 near here for demographics.
Measures
 Participants completed a demographic question-
naire that assessed age, sex, ethnicity, sexual minority 
status, relationship status, etc. as well as a battery of 
other psychosocial measures. The Center for Epidemi-
ologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD), The Aggres-
sion Questionnaire (AQ), and The Connor-Davidson 
Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) were used for this study.
 The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depres-
sion Scale (CESD; Radloff, 1977) is a 20-item measure 
that assesses the frequency of depressive symptoms. 
This measure consists of a four-point Likert-type scale 
ranging from ‘0-Rarely or none of the time’ to ‘3-Most 
or almost all of the time’. The overall scale has strong 
internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha 
of .90 and adequate concurrent and construct validity.
 The Aggression Questionnaire (AQ; Buss & Per-
ry, 1992) is a 29-item measure of aggression and in-
cludes 4 subscales that measure aspects such as phys-
ical aggression, verbal aggression, anger, and hostility. 
The AQ consists of a five-point Likert-type scale that 
ranges from ‘1-Extremely uncharacteristic of me’ to 
‘5-Extremely characteristic of me’. The AQ has good 
reliability with a reported Cronbach’s alpha of .80 
and adequate convergent and concurrent validity.
 The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-
RISC; Connor & Davidson, 2003) is a self-re-
port measure of resilience. This measure con-
sists of 25 items on a 5-point Likert-type scale 
ranging from ‘0-Not at all true’ to ‘4-True nearly all 
of the time’ High scores reflect greater resilience.  
This instrument has a reported Cronbach’s alpha 
of .89 and demonstrates high convergent validity.

Results 
 G*power software was used to run a power anal-
ysis. Data was collected by The Center for Psychoso-
cial Health Research and SPSS 20 to analyze the data. 
Prior to the data analyses, a missing data analysis was 
conducted using Little’s MCAR test and no missing 
data was found. A frequency table to screen for outli-
ers and found that all values were within normal range, 
except for an education value of 55 years. The median 
was used instead of the mean for education because 

of an outlier value in Table 1. Normality plots were 
used to check that assumptions for a normal distri-
bution were met. Because our data did not meet the 
assumption of normality, Log was used to transform 
the data for aggression and depression for the older 
gay men and lesbians combined group, the older gay 
men-only group, and the older lesbian-only group.
Univariates Analysis
 Complete data was collected from all our 100 
participants and then conducted univariate statisti-
cal analyses on all three groups to calculate means, 
standard deviations, ranges, and alphas for each 
measure and groups are shown in Tables 4, 5 & 6. 
Bivariate Analysis
 Bivariate data analyses were conducted, to assess 
the strength of the relationships between our demo-
graphic variables and our variables of interest for the 
older gay men and lesbian combined group, older 
gay men-only group, and older lesbian-only group. 
The correlations are presented in Tables 7, 8 & 9
T-Test Analysis
 An independent-sample t-test was conducted to 
compare the total scores of each variable based on the 
group to determine any significant differences between 
older gay men and older lesbians. Our t-test results in-
dicated a significant difference (t [98]= -3.25, p = .002) 
between resilience scores for gay men (M = 69.56, SD 
= 21.00) and lesbians (M = 80.80, SD = 12.60) and 
for depression scores (t [98]= 2.90, p = .005) for gay 
men (M = 11.32, SD = 8.23) and lesbians (M = 7.26, 
SD = 5.51). However, aggression scores (t [98] = 1.91, 
p = .060), for gay men (M = 25.16, SD = 15.69) and 
lesbians (M = 19.62, SD = 13.28) were not signifi-
cantly different. In our sample, older gay men signifi-
cantly reported lower resilience scores (Cohen’s d = 
0.65) and higher depression scores (Cohen’s d = 0.60) 
than older lesbians, indicating medium effect sizes.
Multivariate Analysis: Moderation Analysis
 For the multivariate analyses, three modera-
tion analyses were conducted, to test our overall 
model, using the older gay men group, and lesbi-
an combined group, the older gay men-only group 
and the older lesbian-only group to examine which 
of our variables of interest serve as predictors of de-
pression, as well as, if resilience moderates the rela-
tionship between aggression and depression. The 
results are shown in Tables 10, 11 & 12. {near here}.
 The first moderation analysis (Table 10- Moder

GRIGGS & VOSVICK



53

RESILIENCE MODERATES AGGRESSION AND DEPRESSION

ation Analyses of older gay men lesbians combined); 
(F [4, 95] = 34.10, [Δ] R² = .15, p < .001) indicated 
that in addition to aggression (β = .30, p <.001) and 
resilience (β = -.69, p <.001), being single (β = .31, p 
<.001) significantly predicted depression account-
ing for approximately 57% of the variance in depres-
sion (Adj. R² = .57, p <.001). Furthermore, resilience 
significantly moderated the relationship between 
aggression and depression (β = -.55, p <.05) in our 
model, ΔR2 = .15, F change = 34.93, p<.001, in our 
sample (N = 100) of older gay men and lesbians.
 The second moderation analysis (Table 11- Mod-
eration Analyses of the older gay men-only group); (F 
[4, 45] = 16.92, [Δ] R² = .10, p < .001) indicated that 
aggression (β = .33, p <.001) and resilience (β = -.53, 
p <.001) significantly predicted depression accounting 
for approximately 57% of the variance in depression. 
Furthermore, resilience significantly moderated the re-
lationship between aggression and depression (β = -.33, 
p <.05) in our model, ΔR2 = .10, F change = 11.02, 
p<.001, in our sample (N = 50) of older gay men. How-
ever, being single was a significant predictor of depres-
sion in blocks 1 & 2 (β = .38, p <.05) (β = .22, p <.05), 
but in block 3 it fell out of significance when the inter-
action effect was added to the model (β = .19, p <.058).
 The third moderation analysis (Table 12- Mod-
eration Analyses of the older lesbian-only group), 
(F [4, 45] = 15.51, [Δ] R² = .03, p < .001) indicated 
that being single (β = .42, p <.001) and resilience (β 
= -.40, p <.001) significantly predicted depression 
accounting for approximately 54% of the variance 
in depression (Adj. R² = .54, p <.001). However, ag-
gression was not a significant predictor of depression 
(β = .13, p =.228) therefore resilience did not moder-
ate the relationship between aggression and depres-
sion (β = -.18, p = .100) in our model, ΔR2 = .03, 
F change = 2.82, p<.001, in our sample (N = 50) of 
older lesbians. The variance inflation factors (VIF) 
and tolerance (TOL) were examined with each anal-
ysis to check for multicollinearity and found none.

Discussion
 This study investigated the relationships between 
aggression, being single, resilience, and depression in 
three groups: older gay men and lesbians combined, 
older gay men-only group, and older lesbian-only 
group. These three groups were chosen because older 
gay men and lesbians’ life experiences may differ and 

by combining them into a single group,  important 
differences may be missed; and three models better ex-
plained the data (Coburn & Eakin, 1993). For all three 
groups, this study hypothesized that aggression and be-
ing single are positively associated with depression, and 
resilience is negatively associated with depression. This 
study also hypothesized that aggression, being single 
and resilience account for a significant proportion of 
variance in depression; and that resilience moderates 
the relationship between aggression and depression.
Older Gay Men and Lesbians Combined Group
 For the older gay men and lesbian combined group, 
our results support all our hypotheses. In our sample 
of older gay men and lesbians, being single was a sig-
nificant predictor of depression which supports pre-
vious literature that single older gay men and lesbians 
reported a sense of emptiness in their lives because of 
a lack of companionship (Kuyper & Fokkema, 2010). 
When compared to partnered older sexual minorities, 
single older sexual minorities reported an increase in 
depressive symptoms (Fredriksen-Goldsen & Mura-
co, 2010). Having a spouse or partner may be a valu-
able source of companionship and emotional support 
(Cutrona, 1996). Additionally, when compared to 
single older gay men and lesbians, partnered older gay 
men and lesbians reported more positive attitudes to-
wards aging and improved well-being (Heaphy, 2009).
 In our sample of older gay men and lesbians 
combined, aggression was a significant predictor of 
depression. This finding is consistent with previous 
literature that aggression in older gay men and lesbi-
ans is positively associated with negative mental out-
comes such as depression (Mason et al. 2014; Parham, 
2004). While aggression may be a common reaction 
to human rights violations (Silove et al., 2009) when 
expressed outwardly in a nonproductive manner ag-
gression is considered a maladaptive coping strategy 
(Miller et al., 1996) associated with increased depres-
sive symptoms in both gay men and lesbians (Kopper 
& Epperson, 1996). However, aggression expressed 
in a manner that motivates an individual to take 
positive action towards a greater good is associated 
with adaptive coping (Russell & Richards, 2003).
 Resilience was also a significant predictor of de-
pression in our sample of older gay men and lesbians 
combined. This finding supports previous research 
that indicates, resilience is associated with positive 
health outcomes, well-being, life satisfaction, adap



54

tive coping skills, and a decreased risk of depression 
(Wagnild, 2003; Wagnild & Young, 1993). Even 
though older gay men and lesbians experienced a 
lifetime of adversity, the majority are not only able 
to “bounce back” from adversity but may develop 
more adaptive coping strategies which are associated 
with increased resilience (Hill & Gunderson, 2015).
 Furthermore, resilience significantly moderated 
the relationship between aggression and depression 
in our sample of older gay men and lesbians com-
bined. This finding supports previous research that 
indicates, resilient older gay men and lesbians may 
possess characteristics that allow them to confront 
and overcome obstacles and challenges (Snyder et al., 
1991).  Even if they feel anger or aggression towards 
events of discrimination, negative emotions can exist 
concurrently, and be associated with increased resil-
ience, if aggression motivates an individual to express 
their emotions in a constructive manner or take pos-
itive action towards a greater good (Foster, 2000).
Older Gay Men-Only Group
 Next for our second model, the older gay 
men-only group, our results support our hypotheses, 
except being single was not a significant predictor of 
depression when the interaction effect was entered 
into the model, which indicated a difference from the 
results of the older gay men and lesbian combined 
group. This finding is consistent with previous lit-
erature that aggression in marginalized groups is as-
sociated with depression and other negative mental 
health outcomes (Mason et al. 2014; Parham, 2004).
 Resilience was also a significant predictor of de-
pression in our older gay men only group. This find-
ing supports previous research that greater resilience 
is associated with greater well-being, life satisfaction, 
and decreased risk of depression (Fredriksen-Gold-
sen & Muraco, 2010; King & Orel, 2012). Further-
more, resilience significantly moderated the rela-
tionship between aggression and depression in our 
older gay men-only group. Possibly because emo-
tional openness and the ability to accept and pro-
cess emotions in an insightful manner was reported 
as a factor associated with resilience (Kwon, 2013).
 However, being single for older gay men did 
not significantly predict depression in our sam-
ple, once the interaction effect was added to the 
model, although being single did approach sig-
nificance. This may be due to our sample size.

Older Lesbians-Only Group
 Then for our model with the older lesbians-only 
group, our results support our hypotheses, except aggres-
sion was not a significant predictor of depression thus 
resilience did not significantly moderate the relationship 
between aggression and depression. In our sample of older 
lesbians, being single was a significant predictor of depres-
sion. This finding is consistent with previous literature that 
reports lesbians in a supportive relationship report high-
er self-esteem and decreased depressive symptoms when 
compared to single lesbians (Wayment & Peplau, 1995).
 Resilience was also a significant predictor of depression 
in our sample of older lesbians which is consistent with previ-
ous research (Averett et al., 2011). Many older lesbians have 
strong social networks, advocate for the lesbian community, 
and are less likely to live alone when compared to older sexu-
al majority women and older gay men (Averett et al., 2011). 
However, aggression was not a signif icant predic-
tor of depression possibly because of the restric-
tion in the range of aggression. A subscale of ag-
gression is physical aggression and individuals may 
fail to endorse these items due to social desirability.
 Because the experiences of older gay men and lesbians 
can be quite different an independent-samples t-test was 
conducted. Significant differences were found between 
resilience scores for older gay men and lesbians, with old-
er gay men reporting lower resilience than older lesbians. 
This result may be due to the fact that gay men are more 
likely to live alone and less likely to have a partner when 
compared to older lesbians (Fredriksen-Goldsen, 2011). 
 Furthermore, depression scores for gay men and les-
bians were also significantly different with older gay men 
reporting more depressive symptoms. This finding sug-
gests older gay men might experience more adverse ef-
fects of sexual minority stress than older lesbians (Herek, 
2002). However, aggression scores for gay men and lesbians 
were not significantly different. Previous literature shows 
mixed results for gender differences in aggression in the 
sexual majority (Allen & Haccoun, 1976; Averill, 1982). 
No significant difference may suggest that some lesbians 
experience similar aggression as gay men (Parham, 2004).
Group Differences
 At the t-test level, the results indicated significant differ-
ences between resilience and depression with older gay men 
reporting lower resilience and higher depression. Older gay 
men report more internalized homophobia than older les-
bians (Fredriksen-Goldsen, 2011), possibly because society 
is more accepting of lesbians than gay men (Heaphy, 2009). 

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55

RESILIENCE MODERATES AGGRESSION AND DEPRESSION

 Lastly, resilience was the strongest predictor 
of depression for older gay men, while being single 
was the strongest predictor of depression for old-
er lesbians. These results highlight the importance 
of investigating older gay men and lesbians in sep-
arate models. Important differences would have 
been missed had this study combined the groups 
into one model, as does most current literature.
Conclusion
 This study examined how aggression, being sin-
gle, and resilience are associated with depression 
in older gay men and lesbians, using resilience as a 
moderator. This study used three groups to investi-
gate group differences between older gay men and 
lesbians. Significant differences between older gay 
men and older lesbians’ aggression, resilience, and 
depression scores did exist. The older gay men and 
lesbian combined group, indicated that in addition 
to aggression and resilience, being single significantly 
predicted depression. Furthermore, resilience signifi-
cantly moderated the relationship between aggres-
sion and depression in older gay men and lesbians.
Clinical Implications
 Because older gay men and lesbians experience a 
lifetime of sexual minority stress (Meyer, 2003), cli-
nicians should focus on interventions aimed at trans-
forming aggression into motivation for self-advocacy. 
Therapeutic interventions should promote adaptabil-
ity, self-reliance, advocacy skills, proactive coping, self-
care, spirituality, gender role flexibility, hope, and hardi-
ness; all of which are reported to foster greater resilience 
(Craig et al., 2014; Colpitts & Gahagan, 2016). Also, 
a further understanding of what factors predict resil-
ience in the older gay and lesbian community may help 
clinicians develop better therapeutic interventions.
Limitations
 While this was a challenging sample to recruit, 
this study achieved the needed sample size but ac-
knowledges this sample has limited generalizability. A 
more diverse sample size would provide an in-depth 
understanding of the intersectionality of oppression 
based on different minority identities. Because this 
was a computerized study taken on provided com-
puters, there were limitations in the ability to reach a 
more socioeconomically and ethnically diverse sam-
ple. As with any self-report survey, some respons-
es may be influenced by self-report bias and social 
desirability. Also, because our sample is from Texas 

our results may not generalize to older gay men and 
lesbians living in more liberal states. Finally, due to 
correlational design causation cannot be inferred. 
Future Research
 Future researchers should investigate factors that 
predict resilience in older gay men and lesbians. Re-
searchers should also compare resilience, aggression, 
and depression in a sample that is representative of the 
older transgender and bisexual population as well as 
one that is more ethnically diverse. Also, due to lim-
ited current literature on the gender differences of 
sexual minorities, future research should investigate 
the group differences between gay men and lesbians.

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Table 1

Demographics of Older Gay Men and Lesbian Group Combined

Note.  *median.



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Table 2

Demographics of Older Gay Men Only Group 

Note.  *median.

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Table 3

Demographics of Older Lesbian Group Combined

Note.  *median.



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Table 4

Univariates for Older Gay Men and Lesbians Group Combined

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RESILIENCE MODERATES AGGRESSION AND DEPRESSION

Table 5

Univariates for Older Gay Men Only Group 



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Table 6

Univariates for Older Lesbians Only Group 

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Table 7

Bivariate for Older Gay Men and Lesbians Combined Group



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Table 8

Bivariate for Older Gay Men-Only Group

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Table 9

Bivariate for Older Lesbians-Only Group



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Table 10

Moderation Analysis Older Gay Men and Lesbians Depression is the Outcome Variable

Note.  Adj. R² = .57, F (4, 95) = 34.10, (Δ) R² = .15, p < .001

* p < .05, ** p < .01.

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Table 11

Moderation Analysis Older Gay Men Only Depression is the Outcome Variable

Note. Adj. R² = .56, F (4, 45) = 16.92, (Δ) R² = .10, p < .001

* p < .05, ** p < .01.



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Table 12

Moderation Analysis Older Lesbian Group Depression is the Outcome Variable

Note.  Adj. R² = .54, F (4, 45) = 15.51, (Δ) R² = .03, p < .001

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Figure 1 

Simple Slope Analysis for Older Gay Men Aggression and Depression



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Figure 2

Simple Slope Analysis for Older Lesbians Aggression and Depression

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