Social Integration, Psychological Distress, and Smoking Behaviors in a Midwest LGBT Community

Abstract

Although social support has been reported to have an impact on health behaviors in the general population, the present findings suggest that the benefits of social support may not apply to the smoking activities of LGBT individuals.

Multiple Mediational Model of Outness, Social Support, Mental Health, and Wellness Behavior in Ethnically Diverse Lesbian, Bisexual, and Queer Women

“…Poor mental health of LGBT individuals has been associated with illicit drug use, 39 sexually transmitted infections, 40,62 tobacco use, [41][42][43] and alcohol abuse. 12 Most of these associations have been identified in LGBT adolescents, although research on sexual minority women has found reduced mental health to be associated with poor health-related quality of life, 44 lack of exercise, 12 and poor general health.…”

“…[34][35][36][37] Primary mental health concerns reported by lesbian women include depression, anxiety and panic disorders, alcoholism, eating disorders, and suicide attempts. 38 Among LGBT individuals, poor mental health has been associated with poor health behaviors such as illicit drug use, 39,40 tobacco use, [41][42][43] and alcohol abuse. 12 Additionally, among sexual minority women, higher depression and anxiety have been associated with poor health-related quality of life, 44 lack of exercise, 12 obesity, and poor general health.…”

Tobacco Denormalization as a Public Health Strategy: Implications for Sexual and Gender Minorities

“…26 In addition to the same risk factors for smoking that confront other groups, sexual and gender minorities also face additional factors that exacerbate their risk, including social environments that are accepting of smoking, 27,36,37 aggressive targeting by the tobacco industry, [38][39][40][41][42] and perhaps most notably stigma-related processes including minority stress, psychological distress, and social isolation. 24,26,[29][30][31]39,[43][44][45][46][47][48][49] The alarmingly high risk of smoking among sexual and gender minorities together with research that has documented a relationship between stigma-related processes and smoking prevalence for these groups raises questions about whether tobacco-related stigma intensifies the disadvantages associated with the stigmas of other social identities. 47,50 Stigma research in public health has been criticized for too narrowly focusing on a singular stigmatizing attribute, and neglecting to recognize that stigmatized people often experience multiple forms of stigma.…”