Disparity in depressive symptoms between heterosexual and sexual minority men in China: The role of social support

Abstract

Accumulating evidence suggests that sexual minorities experience elevated levels of depressive symptoms compared to heterosexuals in Western countries. Still, little is known about whether there is any difference in depressive symptoms between sexual minority men and heterosexual men in China. This study investigated the differences in depressive symptoms and social support between 302 Chinese sexual minority men and 249 heterosexual men. The association between depressive symptoms, social support and sexual orientation was also explored. Our results indicated that Chinese sexual minority men have more depressive symptoms and perceived lower social support than heterosexual men. Overall, sexual orientation and social support both predicted depressive symptoms. Different from previous Western studies, in our results, social support fully mediates but does not moderate the relationship between sexual orientation and depressive symptoms in Chinese men. The current findings suggest that social support has a significant impact on depressive symptoms among Chinese sexual minority men, highlighting the unique role of social support in understanding depressive symptoms among Chinese sexual minority men. Providing more social support, as well as promoting accepting and positive environments, may lead to better adjustment in this population in China.

– The Kyoto Conference on Arts, Media and Culture 2021: Official Conference Proceedings

“…The current study did not find any difference in either sexual communication or perceived social support among heterosexual and non-heterosexual individuals. The results oppose the idea that sexual stigma is considered to get in the way of non-heterosexual individuals to perceive social support as well as communicate with others on sexual topics (Chow & Cheng, 2010;Goldfried & Goldfried, 2001;Hu et al, 2020;Sheets & Mohr, 2009).…”

The Effect of Perceived Social Support on the Mental Health of Homosexuals: The Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy

“…The quality of social support an individual receives from others reflects the state of his interpersonal relationships. The research on Chinese sexual minority men has found that they received lower overall social support than Chinese heterosexual men from family, friends and significant others [ 23 ]. Notably, Chinese sexual minority men received less family support than support from friends and significant others, whereas heterosexuals received more family support than other kinds of support.…”

“…Parents who lost their only child experience poor mental health, and social support is expected to alleviate mental stress and facilitate mental adaptation of bereaved parents [ 22 ]. For homosexuals, social support has been found to be an important protective factor for mental health [ 23 ]. There are two hypotheses about the influence mechanism of social support on mental health: the main effect model and the buffer model [ 24 ].…”

“…Studies on different occupational groups found that perceived social support affects mental health through the mediating effect of self-efficacy [ 37 , 38 ]. For Chinese homosexuals, recent studies found that they perceived lower social support than heterosexual men [ 23 ] and had a lower level of self-efficacy than the general public [ 33 ]. Accordingly, this study proposes Hypothesis 3: self-efficacy has a mediating effect between perceived social support and anxiety and depression in homosexuals.…”

Comparing access to sexual and reproductive health services among sexual minority youths and their peers: findings from a national survey in China

“…Homosexuality was previously classified as a sexual disorder in the Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders (CCMD-1) in 1978 [ 23 ], and was also previously associated with hooliganism as stated in the Chinese Criminal Law in 1979 [ 24 ]. At present, marriage between same-sex couples has yet to be legalized in China and therefore, same-sex couples are not able to access the same rights and protection (e.g., marriage and adoption of children) as heterosexual couples [ 25 ]. Given the sensitive nature of discussing sexual health in China, particularly in unmarried young adults, public health programs are few.…”