Disparities in Mental Health and Well-Being between Heterosexual and Sexual Minority Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Chen, Jen-Hao

doi:10.1177/08982643221081965

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…According to the findings of the present study, participants aged 50 years old or older were more likely to report minimal to moderately severe depressive symptoms compared to all other age groups. This aligns with previous literature that has found that older LGBTQ individuals were more likely to report emotional distress than non-LGBTQ people during the pandemic [49]. Increased attention to the needs of older LGBTQ individuals, especially during times of national and global emergency, is warranted, as this group is generally more vulnerable, having experienced decades of stigma, criminalization, discrimination, grief, victimization, and social and economic exclusion [50].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Depression Severity among a Sample of LGBTQ+ Individuals during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Griffin,

Jaiswal,

Olsson

et al. 2023

Societies

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Background: The global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to immense impacts on global community health, the public perception of healthcare, and attitudes surrounding mental health during widespread quarantine. Methods: This analysis examines the rates of depressive symptomology among a sample of LGBTQ+-identifying individuals in the United States (n = 1090). The variables examined included socio-demographic factors, the use of mental health medication, access to mental health medication, and experiences of depression symptomology. Results: The findings indicate that depressive symptoms were less severe for older adults, as they reported higher levels of minimal to moderately severe depressive symptoms. Participants who were not working and those who were using substances were less likely to report depressive symptoms. Participants who were employed full-time reported higher levels of depression compared to those who were unemployed. Conclusions: Understanding the mental health of marginalized populations such as the LGBTQ+ community is critical to providing more nuanced preventative healthcare for unique populations, as members of the LGBTQ+ community are non-monolithic and require more personalized approaches to their healthcare needs.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Depression Severity among a Sample of LGBTQ+ Individuals during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Griffin,

Jaiswal,

Olsson

et al. 2023

Societies

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“…For the next phase of our research, we plan to utilize topic modeling methods, such as BERTopic [64], to generate topic clusters and automatically extract frequently occurring words to represent the topic of each cluster. Additionally, we plan to combine the current text analysis method with existing data gathered through interviews and survey results, such as the 2020 Health and Retirement Survey (HRS) [36], to better understand and categorize LGBTQ+ elders' resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope that this will further demonstrate the potential of using such mixed methods to uncover other aspects of strengthened resilience that were previously overlooked, and thereby inform future decisions in policy-making and healthcare and health information service provision, as well as promote additional community networking and other internal support mechanisms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The unique experiences of LGBTQ+ elders during COVID-19 have primarily been studied to date through interviews and surveys, which can have important logistical limitations in the scope and number or type of participants [36]. With the aim of expanding the scope and methods of such research as well as exploring online information-seeking behavior and queries of LGBTQ+ elders, our study takes a different approach and applies computational discourse analysis to the results of online searches for health information for this population.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 The workflow of computational discourse analysis. Note: The colour of each frame represents the category of the sub-step -green frames are in-step text sources, yellow frames are end-of-step text results, red frames are actions of computational decision-making or human analyses, and blue frames are API querying actions who responded to the 2020 Health and Retirement Survey (HRS), merely 3% answered the sexual orientation question [36]. Because of the lack of self-disclosure and large-scale survey data, it has been difficult to conduct health-related research on LGBTQ+ elders during the COVID-19 pandemic, a situation that in turn can lead to slower or less informed policy development and a lack of public awareness.…”

Section: Description Of Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Disparities and resilience: analyzing online Health information provision, behaviors and needs of LBGTQ + elders during COVID-19

Fan

Gilliland

2022

BMC Public Health

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Background Prior studies indicate that older members of LGBTQ+ communities have specific health provision and health information needs related to coping with COVID-19, its long-term effects, and the social and economic impact of the pandemic. This study addresses the issue of a lack of timely, complete, and high-quality data about this population’s healthcare and healthcare information needs and behaviors. Recognizing also that this is a diverse population made up of multiple communities and identities with different concerns and experiences, this research seeks to develop and refine a method that can provide additional nuanced data and insights that can support improved and more closely targeted health interventions and online information provision. Methods We use computational discourse analysis, which is based on NLP algorithms, to build and analyze a digital corpus of online search results containing rich, wide-ranging content such as quotes and anecdotes from older members of LGBTQ+ communities as well as practitioners, advice, and recommendations from policymakers and healthcare experts, and research outcomes. In our analysis, we develop and apply an innovative disparities and resilience (D&R) framework to identify external and internal perspectives and understand better disparities and resilience as they pertain to this population. Results Results of this initial study support previous research that LGBTQ+ elders experience aggravated health and related social-economic disparities in comparison to the general population of older people. We also find that LGBTQ+ elders leverage individual toughness and community closeness, and quickly adapt mentally and technologically, despite inadequate social infrastructure for sharing health information and elders’ often low social economic status. The methods used therefore are able to surface distinctive resilience in the face of distinctive disparities. Conclusions Our study provides evidence that methodological innovation in gathering and analyzing digital data relating to overlooked, disparately affected, and socially and economically marginalized intersectional communities such as LGBTQ+ elders can result in increased external and self-knowledge of these populations. Specifically, it demonstrates the potential of computational discourse analysis to surface hidden and emerging issues and trends relating to a multi-faceted population that has important concerns about public exposure in highly timely and automated ways. It also points to the potential benefits of triangulating data gathered through this approach with data gathered through more traditional mechanisms such as surveys and interviews. Trial registration Not Applicable.

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“… 24 , 25 The COVID-19 pandemic often has been described as a “perfect storm” of multiple sources of stress and has been linked to worsened mental health and health behaviors overall. 21 , 22 , 26 – 29 There is evidence of increased problematic alcohol use during previous pandemics; 30 however, the COVID-19 pandemic is unique among recent pandemics in the breadth and duration of its impacts and thus may have more substantial effects on health and well-being, including alcohol use. Cisgender women, compared to cisgender men, may be particularly affected by the pandemic due to higher levels of stressors.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Are Cisgender Women and Transgender and Nonbinary People Drinking More During the COVID-19 Pandemic? It Depends.

Veldhuis

2023

ARCR

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PURPOSE This narrative review of research conducted during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic examines whether alcohol use among cisgender women and transgender and nonbinary people increased during the pandemic. The overarching goal of the review is to inform intervention and prevention efforts to halt the narrowing of gender-related differences in alcohol use. SEARCH METHODS Eight databases (PubMed, APA PsycInfo, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, Gender Studies Database, GenderWatch, and Web of Science) were searched for peer-reviewed literature, published between March 2020 and July 2022, that reported gender differences or findings specific to women, transgender or nonbinary people, and alcohol use during the pandemic. The search focused on studies conducted in the United States and excluded qualitative research. SEARCH RESULTS A total 4,132 records were identified, including 400 duplicates. Of the remaining 3,732 unique records for consideration in the review, 51 were ultimately included. Overall, most studies found increases in alcohol use as well as gender differences in alcohol use, with cisgender women experiencing the most serious consequences. The findings for transgender and nonbinary people were equivocal due to the dearth of research and because many studies aggregated across gender. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS Alcohol use by cisgender women seems to have increased during the pandemic; however, sizable limitations need to be considered, particularly the low number of studies on alcohol use during the pandemic that analyzed gender differences. This is of concern as gender differences in alcohol use had been narrowing before the pandemic; and this review suggests the gap has narrowed even further. Cisgender women and transgender and nonbinary people have experienced sizable stressors during the pandemic; thus, understanding the health and health behavior impacts of these stressors is critical to preventing the worsening of problematic alcohol use.

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Disparities in Mental Health and Well-Being between Heterosexual and Sexual Minority Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cited by 9 publications

References 56 publications

Depression Severity among a Sample of LGBTQ+ Individuals during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Depression Severity among a Sample of LGBTQ+ Individuals during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Disparities and resilience: analyzing online Health information provision, behaviors and needs of LBGTQ + elders during COVID-19

Are Cisgender Women and Transgender and Nonbinary People Drinking More During the COVID-19 Pandemic? It Depends.

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