Tag: Homosexual

Mental Health Inequalities in Non-Heterosexuals & Heterosexuals

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Research Paper Title

The mental health of lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults compared with heterosexual adults: results of two nationally representative English household probability samples.

Background

Evidence on inequalities in mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual people arises primarily from non-random samples.

The aim of this study was to use a probability sample to study change in mental health inequalities between two survey points, 7 years apart; the contribution of minority stress; and whether associations vary by age, gender, childhood sexual abuse, and religious identification.

Methods

The researchers analysed data from 10 443 people, in two English population-based surveys (2007 and 2014), on common mental disorder (CMD), hazardous alcohol use, and illicit drug use. Multivariable models were adjusted for age, gender, and economic factors, adding interaction terms for survey year, age, gender, childhood sexual abuse, and religious identification. They explored bullying and discrimination as mediators.

Results

Inequalities in risks of CMD or substance misuse were unchanged between 2007 and 2014. Compared to heterosexuals, bisexual, and lesbian/gay people were more likely to have CMD, particularly bisexual people [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2.86; 95% CI 1.83-4.46], and to report alcohol misuse and illicit drug use. When adjusted for bullying, odds of CMD remained elevated only for bisexual people (AOR = 3.21; 95% CI 1.64-6.30), whilst odds of alcohol and drug misuse were unchanged. When adjusted for discrimination, odds of CMD and alcohol misuse remained elevated only for bisexual people (AOR = 2.91; 95% CI 1.80-4.72; and AOR = 1.63; 95% CI 1.03-2.57 respectively), whilst odds of illicit drug use remained unchanged. There were no interactions with age, gender, childhood sexual abuse, or religious identification.

Conclusions

Mental health inequalities in non-heterosexuals have not narrowed, despite increasing societal acceptance. Bullying and discrimination may help explain the elevated rate of CMD in lesbian women and gay men but not in bisexual people.

Reference

Pitman, A., Marston, L., Lewis, G., Semlyen, J., McManus, S. & King, M. (2021) The mental health of lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults compared with heterosexual adults: results of two nationally representative English household probability samples. Psychological Medicine. doi: 10.1017/S0033291721000052. Online ahead of print.

Book: Sexuality – A Very Short Introduction

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Book Title:

Sexuality: A Very Short Introduction.

Author(s): Veronique Mottier.

Year: 2008.

Edition: First (1ed).

Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP).

Type(s): Paperback, Audiobook, and Kindle.

Synopsis:

What shapes our sexuality? Is it a product of our genes, or of society, culture, and politics? How have concepts of sexuality and sexual norms changed over time? How have feminist theories, religion, and HIV/AIDS affected our attitudes to sex?

Focusing on the social, political, and psychological aspects of sexuality, this Very Short Introduction examines these questions and many more, exploring what shapes our sexuality, and how our attitudes to sex have in turn shaped the wider world. Revealing how our assumptions about what is ‘normal’ in sexuality have, in reality, varied widely across time and place, this book tackles the major topics and controversies that still confront us when issues of sex and sexuality are discussed: from sex education, HIV\AIDS, and eugenics, to religious doctrine, gay rights, and feminism.

The Experience of Sexual Minority Men & Mental Healthcare in Toronto, Canada

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Research Paper Title

Mental health and structural harm: a qualitative study of sexual minority men’s experiences of mental healthcare in Toronto, Canada.

Background

Compared to the general population, sexual minority men report poorer mental health outcomes and higher mental healthcare utilisation.

However, they also report more unmet mental health needs.

Methods

To better understand this phenomenon, the researchers conducted qualitative interviews with 24 sexual minority men to explore the structural factors shaping their encounters with mental healthcare in Toronto, Canada.

Interviews were analysed using grounded theory.

Results

Many participants struggled to access mental healthcare and felt more marginalised and distressed because of two interrelated sets of barriers.

  • The first were general barriers, hurdles to mental healthcare not exclusive to sexual minorities. These included:
    • Financial and logistical obstacles;
    • The prominence of psychiatry and the biomedical model; and
    • Unsatisfactory provider encounters.
  • The second were sexual minority barriers, obstacles explicitly rooted in heterosexism and homophobia sometimes intersecting with other forms of marginality. These included:
    • Experiencing discrimination and distrust; and
    • Limited sexual minority affirming options.

Discussions of general barriers outweighed those of sexual minority barriers, demonstrating the health consequences of structural harms in the absence of overt structural stigma.

Conclusions

Healthcare inaccessibility, income insecurity and the high cost of living are fostering poor mental health among sexual minority men.

Research must consider the upstream policy changes necessary to counteract these harms.

Reference

Gaspar, M., Marshall, Z., Rodrigues, R., Adam, B.D., Brennan, D.J., Hart, T.A. & Grace, D. (2019) Mental health and structural harm: a qualitative study of sexual minority men’s experiences of mental healthcare in Toronto, Canada. Culture, Health, & Sexuality. 1-17. doi: 10.1080/13691058.2019.1692074. [Epub ahead of print].