The Relationship between Minority Stress and Depressive Symptoms in the LGBTQA Population from Poland

Abstract

The cross-sectional study examines minority stress and depression symptoms regarding various sexual and gender minority (SGM) identities in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and asexual (LGBTQA) individuals from Poland. The online survey was conducted among 509 people. Participants aged between 18 and 47 (M = 22.39, SD = 4.78). Gender identity included 262 cisgender women, 74 cisgender men, 31 transgender women, 53 transgender men, and 89 nonbinary individuals. Sexual identity comprises 197 bisexual, 150 homosexual, 78 pansexual, 33 asexual, 21 undefined, 14 heterosexual, 9 demisexuals, 6 queer, and 1 sapiosexual individual. The Daily Heterosexist Experiences Questionnaire (DHEQ) and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale—Revised (CESD-R) were used to measure minority stress and depression symptoms, respectively. Among LGBTQA participants, 99.80% declared minority stress at least once during the past year. In particular, vicarious trauma was experienced in 99.80% of participants, vigilance in 95.87%, harassment and discrimination in 80.35%, stress related to the family of origin in 69.16%, and to gender expression in 68.76% of respondents. Depression symptoms were found in 62.50% of respondents. Significantly higher rates of depression and minority stress were presented in dual than single SGM individuals. Binomial logistic regression showed that such sources of minority stress as vigilance, harassment, and gender expression could predict depression symptoms. Therefore, prevention and intervention programs should be designed for the LGBTQA population focusing on coping with these sources of minority stress, especially among those of dual SGM identity.

Mental health and help-seeking in Czech sexual minorities: a nationally representative cross-sectional study

“…Nonetheless, the research focusing on the mental health of SM individuals is not evenly distributed, with a systematic review that encompassed 199 studies revealing that 76% of these investigations were carried out in the US or Canada (Ploderl and Tremblay, 2015 ). This research remains comparatively scarce in the region of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), including Czechia, although notable studies exist (Chumakov et al , 2023 ; Cisek and Rogowska, 2023 ; Iniewicz et al , 2017 ; Kardasz et al , 2023 ; Kranz et al , 2023 ; Pitoňák et al , 2023a ; Šević et al , 2016 ; Stojanovski et al , 2022 ). This is particularly noteworthy when we consider that the absence of sexual orientation questions in public health surveys constitutes a fundamental barrier limiting the generation of primary data on the mental health of SM populations (Bränström et al , 2019 ), thus allowing policymakers in the CEE region to overlook these people and their needs.…”