Christopher Rosik

We analyzed a socio-politically diverse sample (N = 1412) of adults who reported experiencing or having experienced same-sex attractions to compare the degree of depression and flourishing between three statuses of sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE): No SOCE (n = 329), Ongoing SOCE (n = 326), and Ended SOCE (n = 757). ANCOVA results controlling for age indicated that the participants with Ongoing SOCE reported greater depression and less flourishing than participants in either the group with No SOCE or the group who had Ended SOCE, who had similar health outcomes, with small effect sizes. A chi-square analysis with a medium effect size indicated that the majority of participants (48.6%) in the Ongoing SOCE group did not identify as LGBQ+ while 62.9% of participants in the Ended SOCE group identified as LGBQ+. Overall, 16% (173/1083) of participants exposed to SOCE reported having developed sufficient other-sex sexual attraction to enjoy other-sex sexual behavior, though 11.7% (127/1083) indicated the ability to enjoy heterosexual sex pre-SOCE. Further, 5.8% (19/329) of participants not exposed to SOCE reported experiencing developing sufficient other-sex sexual attraction to enjoy other-sex sexual behavior. Duration of SOCE was not associated with health outcomes and the number of years elapsed following SOCE was not correlated with health outcomes after controlling for age. We conclude by discussing important limitations and cautions for interpreting our findings, potential clinical implications, the benefits of adversarial collaboration, and recommendations for future research.