The sexual identities of young women today are less binary and more fluid than ever before. Several theoretical perspectives imply that this fluidity could be accompanied by distress. To examine this, we analyzed four waves of data from Australian women born 1989 to 1995 (n = 11,527). We found no evidence of a universal association between sexual identity change and psychological distress. Instead, psychological distress was elevated when women changed their identity away from the heterosexual norm and lowered when they changed their identity toward it. Social stress partly attenuated these associations. In addition, women unsure of their identity at multiple assessment points reported significantly greater psychological distress in the final assessment than women who were never unsure. Our findings suggest that greater support should be offered to women who are questioning their sexual identity or developing a minority identity.

今天年轻女性的性身份比以往任何时候都更不二元，更不稳定。一些理论观点暗示这种流动性可能伴随着痛苦。为检验这一点，我们分析了 1989 年至 1995 年出生的澳大利亚女性的四波数据（n = 11,527）。我们没有发现性身份改变与心理困扰之间存在普遍关联的证据。相反，当女性改变自己的身份远离异性恋规范时，心理压力会增加，而当她们改变自己的身份时，心理压力会降低。社会压力部分削弱了这些联系。此外，与从不不确定的女性相比，在多个评估点不确定自己身份的女性在最终评估中报告的心理压力明显更大。