Department of Social Work and Social Administration, University of Hong Kong (HKU), The Jockey Club Tower, The Centennial Campus, Pokfulam Road, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong.
Departments of Nursing, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, and Center of Infection Control, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan.
Arch Sex Behav. 2020 Jul;49(5):1671-1682. doi: 10.1007/s10508-020-01686-y. Epub 2020 Apr 26.
Research on structural stigma has associated the poor mental health status among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people with discriminatory institutions. Yet, less is known about the role of LGB adults' perceptions of social attitudes toward LGB issues. Moreover, the psychological mediation framework posits LGB people's self-acceptance as a mediator between a stigmatizing environment and individual mental health. This study investigated: (a) how perceived attitudes toward LGB issues from different social realms (society, heterosexual friends, and family members) were associated with LGB people's mental health; and (b) whether self-acceptance mediated the effects of perceived attitudes. In this cross-sectional study, 1527 Taiwanese LGB adults (812 men; 715 women) aged between 20 and 62 years were recruited via Facebook to complete an online survey. The majority of respondents self-identified as homosexual (1129) and 399 as bisexual. The survey consisted of assessment of respondents' mental health and questions to rate individual self-acceptance and perceptions of social attitudes. Path analysis showed that self-acceptance partially mediated the association between mental health and perceived societal acceptance of homosexuality and fully mediated the effect of perceptions of friends' acceptance of homosexuality on mental health. Self-acceptance fully mediated the effects of perceived support for same-sex marriage from friends and families. This research yielded evidence about the interplay between perceived social stigma, self-acceptance, and mental health, particularly in the context of public debate about same-sex marriage. The effects of public discourse about sexual diversity and marriage equality on LGB adults' mental health should be addressed by affirmative policies and practices.
结构污名研究将女同性恋、男同性恋和双性恋（LGB）人群的心理健康状况不佳与歧视性制度联系起来。然而，人们对 LGB 成年人对 LGB 问题的社会态度的看法的作用知之甚少。此外，心理中介框架假设 LGB 人的自我接纳是歧视环境和个人心理健康之间的中介。本研究调查了：（a）来自不同社会领域（社会、异性恋朋友和家庭成员）的对 LGB 问题的感知态度如何与 LGB 人的心理健康相关；（b）自我接纳是否中介了感知态度的影响。在这项横断面研究中，通过 Facebook 招募了 1527 名 20 至 62 岁的台湾 LGB 成年人（812 名男性；715 名女性）完成在线调查。大多数受访者自我认同为同性恋（1129 人）和双性恋（399 人）。调查包括评估受访者的心理健康以及评估个人自我接纳和感知社会态度的问题。路径分析表明，自我接纳部分中介了心理健康与感知社会对同性恋的接受度之间的关联，完全中介了感知朋友对同性恋的接受度对心理健康的影响。自我接纳完全中介了朋友和家人对同性婚姻的支持的感知。这项研究提供了关于感知社会污名、自我接纳和心理健康之间相互作用的证据，特别是在关于同性婚姻的公共辩论背景下。关于性多样性和婚姻平等的公共话语对 LGB 成年人心理健康的影响应该通过肯定性政策和实践来解决。
