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In this essay, we review existing research regarding sexual fluidity and mental health among young adults in order to identify critical knowledge gaps with respect to an epidemiological understanding of the relationship between these factors. We describe three gaps that in turn inform a larger public health research agenda on this topic. First, there are a number of methodological challenges given that fluidity can occur over short or long periods of time and across multiple dimensions of sexual orientation (eg, attractions, identities and behaviour) with various patterns (eg, directionality of change). Tailored measures that accurately and inclusively reflect diversities of sexual fluidity trajectories are needed. Second, causal relationships between sexual fluidity and mental health remain uncertain and unquantified. Third, little is known about how features of context (eg, gender norms and political climate) influence youth experiences with sexual fluidity and mental health. Finally, we propose a set of recommendations to address these knowledge gaps to improve the quality of epidemiological research involving young people.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1136\/jech-2023-221844","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,29]],"date-time":"2024-06-29T13:20:13Z","timestamp":1719667213000},"page":"556-560","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Knowledge gaps in existing research exploring sexual fluidity and mental health among young adults"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"78","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2156-4759","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pierre-Julien","family":"Coulaud","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"\u00c9cole de Sant\u00e9 Publique, D\u00e9partement de M\u00e9decine Sociale et Pr\u00e9ventive, Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al, Montr\u00e9al, Qu\u00e9bec, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5699-5444","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Travis","family":"Salway","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada"},{"name":"British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada"},{"name":"Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1999-1134","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nick","family":"Adams","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing Midwifery and Paramedic Practice, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2722-7040","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"William","family":"Ball","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing Midwifery and Paramedic Practice, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7097-700X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joseph","family":"Larmarange","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre Population et D\u00e9veloppement (UMR 196 Universit\u00e9 Paris Cit\u00e9, IRD), SageSud (ERL INSERM 1244), Institut de Recherche pour le D\u00e9veloppement, Paris, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5749-4791","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michelle","family":"Kelly-Irving","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Epidemiology and Research in Population Health (CERPOP), Universit\u00e9 de Toulouse, Inserm, Universit\u00e9 Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1464-1584","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rod","family":"Knight","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u00c9cole de Sant\u00e9 Publique, D\u00e9partement de M\u00e9decine Sociale et Pr\u00e9ventive, Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al, Montr\u00e9al, Qu\u00e9bec, Canada"},{"name":"Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada"},{"name":"Centre de Recherche en Sant\u00e9 Publique (CReSP), Montr\u00e9al, Qu\u00e9bec, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025100303461346000_78.9.556.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2023.4809"},{"key":"2025100303461346000_78.9.556.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00787-022-02060-0"},{"key":"2025100303461346000_78.9.556.3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sell RL . 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