1
|
Gmelin JOH, De Vries YA, Baams L, Aguilar-Gaxiola S, Alonso J, Borges G, Bunting B, Cardoso G, Florescu S, Gureje O, Karam EG, Kawakami N, Lee S, Mneimneh Z, Navarro-Mateu F, Posada-Villa J, Rapsey C, Slade T, Stagnaro JC, Torres Y, Kessler RC, de Jonge P. Increased risks for mental disorders among LGB individuals: cross-national evidence from the World Mental Health Surveys. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2022; 57:2319-2332. [PMID: 35851652 PMCID: PMC9636102 DOI: 10.1007/s00127-022-02320-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2021] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals, and LB women specifically, have an increased risk for psychiatric morbidity, theorized to result from stigma-based discrimination. To date, no study has investigated the mental health disparities between LGB and heterosexual AQ1individuals in a large cross-national population-based comparison. The current study addresses this gap by examining differences between LGB and heterosexual participants in 13 cross-national surveys, and by exploring whether these disparities were associated with country-level LGBT acceptance. Since lower social support has been suggested as a mediator of sexual orientation-based differences in psychiatric morbidity, our secondary aim was to examine whether mental health disparities were partially explained by general social support from family and friends. METHODS Twelve-month prevalence of DSM-IV anxiety, mood, eating, disruptive behavior, and substance disorders was assessed with the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview in a general population sample across 13 countries as part of the World Mental Health Surveys. Participants were 46,889 adults (19,887 males; 807 LGB-identified). RESULTS Male and female LGB participants were more likely to report any 12-month disorder (OR 2.2, p < 0.001 and OR 2.7, p < 0.001, respectively) and most individual disorders than heterosexual participants. We found no evidence for an association between country-level LGBT acceptance and rates of psychiatric morbidity between LGB and heterosexualAQ2 participants. However, among LB women, the increased risk for mental disorders was partially explained by lower general openness with family, although most of the increased risk remained unexplained. CONCLUSION These results provide cross-national evidence for an association between sexual minority status and psychiatric morbidity, and highlight that for women, but not men, this association was partially mediated by perceived openness with family. Future research into individual-level and cross-national sexual minority stressors is needed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jan-Ole H. Gmelin
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Ymkje Anna De Vries
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS Groningen, The Netherlands
- Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Laura Baams
- Department of Pedagogy and Educational Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Jordi Alonso
- Health Services Research Unit, IMIM-Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute, Barcelona, Spain
- Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Guilherme Borges
- National Institute of Psychiatry Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Mexico City, Mexico
| | | | - Graca Cardoso
- Lisbon Institute of Global Mental Health and Chronic Diseases Research Center, NOVA Medical School, NOVA University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Silvia Florescu
- National School of Public Health, Management and Development, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Oye Gureje
- Department of Psychiatry, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria
| | - Elie G. Karam
- Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Balamand University, Beirut, Lebanon
- Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, St George Hospital University Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon
- Institute for Development Research Advocacy and Applied Care (IDRAAC), Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Norito Kawakami
- Department of Digital Mental Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Sing Lee
- Department of Psychiatry, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong
| | - Zeina Mneimneh
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI USA
| | - Fernando Navarro-Mateu
- IDRAAC, Beirut, Lebanon
- UDIF-SM, Subdirección General de Planificación, Innovación y Cronicidad, Servicio Murciano de Salud, IMIB-Arrixaca, CIBERESP-Murcia, Murcia, Spain
| | - José Posada-Villa
- Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Bogota, Colombia
| | - Charlene Rapsey
- Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, Otago New Zealand
| | - Tim Slade
- The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Juan Carlos Stagnaro
- Departamento de Psiquiatría y Salud Mental, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Yolanda Torres
- Center for Excellence on Research in Mental Health, CES University, Medellin, Colombia
| | - Ronald C. Kessler
- Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
| | - Peter de Jonge
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Sugimura K, Gmelin JOH, van der Gaag MAE, Kunnen ES. Exploring Exploration: Identity Exploration in Real-Time Interactions among Peers. Identity 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/15283488.2021.1947819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kazumi Sugimura
- Department of Psychology, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan
| | - Jan-Ole H. Gmelin
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | | | - E. Saskia Kunnen
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|