Victimisation and life satisfaction of gay and bisexual individuals in 44 European countries: the moderating role of country-level and person-level attitudes towards homosexuality

Minority Stress in Emotion Suppression and Mental Distress Among Sexual and Gender Minorities: A Systematic Review

Background:

The existing structural framework of defining gender and sexuality based on heteronormative ideology led to the succession of the notions of stigma, prejudice, and hate towards the sexual and gender minority population. The presence of strong scientific evidence for the negative consequences of discriminatory and violent events has directed the association with mental and emotional distress. This study aims to comprehend the role of minority stress in emotional regulation and suppression among the sexual minority population globally using systematic review of literature through elaborate Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.

Summary:

The analyses of the sorted literature premised on the PRISMA guidelines revealed that minority stress mediates the emotion regulation processes among the individuals who witness continuous episodes of discrimination and violence leading to emotional dysregulation and emotion suppression. Studies also reported the dominance of various health-risk behaviors such as alcohol addiction, drug abuse, and other forms of intoxication among sexual minority individuals. Increased instances of anxiety, stress, depression, and suicidal ideations were prominent in the findings of the empirical research suggesting an intricate role of minority stress in advancing the faulty emotion suppression and mental health concerns among the sexual and gender minority population.

Key message:

Minority stressors among sexual and gender minority individuals mediate emotion suppression and mental distress.

Mental Health and Life Satisfaction on Chilean Gay Men and Lesbian Women: The Role of Perceived Sexual Stigma, Internalized Homophobia, and Community Connectedness

The Minority Stress Model has proposed that connectedness to a specific minority community may be a protective factor for stigmatized groups. This study evaluated the mediational role of connectedness with the gay men's and lesbian women's community on the relationship between two minority stressors (internalized homophobia and perceived sexual stigma) with anxiety-depressive symptomatology and life satisfaction. The sample consisted of 467 Chilean self-identified as gay men (57%) and lesbian women (43%). Results revealed that the two minority stressors were associated with anxiety-depressive symptomatology, but only internalized homophobia was associated with life satisfaction. The mediation hypothesis was partially supported by the relationship between internalized homophobia and life satisfaction. Unexpectedly, we found a negative association between connectedness with the gay men's and lesbian women's community and life satisfaction. This finding introduces a view that contrasts with the literature, which proposes that connectedness with the specific community would be a protective factor against sexual stigma.

Measurement Invariance of the Satisfaction with Life Scale by Sexual Orientation

The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) has shown strong evidence of reliability, validity, and gender invariance, and there is some evidence of invariance across age, culture, and educational levels. So far, invariance across sexual orientation has not been studied, despite the number of works that relate well-being to sexual orientation. The SWLS should be invariant across sexual orientation to be able to compare group means. This study aimed to explore the invariance of the SWLS across sexual orientation. A non-probabilistic sample with 553 Spanish adults (208 males, 345 females; 212 heterosexuals, 182 gays, and 138 bisexuals among other sexual orientations) participated in a survey. We tested a one-factor model using confirmatory factor analysis. We tested the configural, metric, and scalar invariance of the factorial structure of the SWLS across sexual orientation with heterosexual, lesbian/gay, and bisexual groups. According to our results, the Spanish version of the SWLS shows scalar invariance across sexual orientations, allowing a valid comparison between sexual minority and heterosexual people. Moreover, in our sample, lesbian/gay and bisexual participants obtained lower scores in life satisfaction than heterosexual participants. Bisexual people obtained the lowest score in well-being compared with the other groups. Implications related to the importance of checking instrument invariance before comparing mean differences between groups are discussed.

Verbal victimisation, depressive symptoms, and suicide risk among sexual minority adults in France: results from the nationally-representative 2017 Health Barometer survey

PURPOSE

Our study estimates rates of depressive symptoms and suicide risk according to sexual minority status, and examines the mediating effect of verbal victimisation in the association between sexual minority status and mental health outcomes.

METHOD

Analysis is based on data from the 2017 French Health Barometer, a general population phone survey, which recruited 25,198 adults aged 18-75 years. Data were weighted to be representative of the French adult population. Four mental health outcomes occurring in the preceding year or currently were examined in relation to sexual minority status using multivariate logistic regressions: (a) current depressive symptoms, (b) having experienced a major depressive episode, (c) suicidal ideation, and (d) suicide attempt. Further we conducted mediation analyses to evaluate the contribution that verbal victimisation experienced in the preceding year has in the association between sexual minority status and the listed outcomes. All analyses were also stratified by sex.

RESULTS

Sexual minority adults were more likely to experience verbal victimisation in the last year compared to heterosexual individuals (22% vs 11.4%). They were also more likely to have experienced each of the four mental health outcomes, even after adjusting for potential confounders. In adjusted mediation analysis, verbal victimisation in the preceding year was found to significantly mediate the association between sexual orientation and mental health outcome with mediated proportions varying between 15 and 22%.

CONCLUSION

Sexual minority individuals are more at risk of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation compared to heterosexuals, and this may be partially mediated by verbal victimisation.

'Until we have laws … everything is useless!': intersectionality, self-identified needs and inequity among sexual and gender minorities in Macedonia

There exists limited understanding about the intersectional nature of needs and inequities among sexual and gender minorities in Macedonia and Eastern Europe. We conducted a qualitative, cross-sectional and national needs assessment among 71 sexual and gender minority community members using semi-structured focus groups and interviews. Thematic analysis was used to better understand their self-identified needs, their concerns about equity and the intersectional nature of their needs. Community members discussed a wide range of health and healthcare needs as well as the social and structural factors that influence those needs, including: cultural norms; victimisation and safety concerns and the role of law, policy and politics; education and democratisation of knowledge; and economic and housing opportunities. Needs were patterned across different sexual and gender minority subgroups such that those experiencing heightened marginalisation (e.g. trans* persons) also experienced compounded forms of inequity. Given that sexual and gender minorities in Macedonia have numerous structurally induced intersectional needs, multilevel and multifaceted strategies are needed to ensure that their rights and needs are respected, protected and fulfilled at structural, community and individual levels.

Young men's rationales for non-exclusive gay sexualities

Recent evidence suggests it is useful to distinguish sexual identities among young men at the gay end of the spectrum because of group differences between primarily gay, mostly gay and gay orientations on several assessed physiological, behavioural and self-report measures. However, little is known about individuals' rationales for choosing sexuality labels beyond traditional gay or bisexual categories. We addressed this issue by interviewing 24 young men with a non-exclusive gay orientation about their sexual desires and histories, drawing on both qualitative and numeric data. Undertaking an inductive analysis, we found four distinct rationales for identification with a sexual orientation label: sexual, romantic, intellectual and internalised homophobia. By examining what young men mean when they classify themselves as primarily gay, mostly gay or bisexual-leaning gay, this article provides data to understand these issues and proposes that greater focus should be placed on sexual identity for non-exclusive gay men. Although the sexual and affectional components of sexual orientation are meaningful, previous research has not sufficiently accounted for the importance of intellectual, cultural and romantic factors in non-exclusive sexual orientations. To address these issues, the use of in-depth interviews should be incorporated in future studies.