Ribeiro-Gonçalves José Alberto, Pereira Dora, Costa Pedro Alexandre, Leal Isabel
William James Center for Research, ISPA, University Institute, Lisbon, Portugal.
Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Madeira, Funchal, Portugal.
Aging Ment Health. 2025 Mar;29(3):408-417. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2024.2394847. Epub 2024 Aug 21.
Population ageing raises major public health and psychosocial challenges. Particularly, lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) older people may face increased vulnerabilities and marginalization when compared to their non-LGB (heterosexual) counterparts, which may entail more risks for their mental health. The aim of this study was to comparatively evaluate the levels of protective - social support, spirituality, and resilience and stress factors - loneliness and ageism - among LGB and non-LGB older adults, and their impact on psychological distress (PD).
A sample of 647 people aged 60 years or older ( = 66.01; SD = 4.93) was collected, 368 non-LGB and 279 LGB. Participation was carried out through an online survey in Portugal.
LGB older adults had lower scores on all protective factors, except on social support from friends, and higher levels on all stress factors, except on hostile ageism, compared to non-LGB older adults. Further, resilience and loneliness were the main predictors of PD regardless of the sexual orientation. Stress factors explained the levels of PD over and above the effects of protective factors, both among LGB and non-LGB older adults.
Psychological distress in aging presents different protective and stressful factors according to the sexual orientation of older adults. More comparative studies are suggested in the intersection between ageing and sexual orientation.
人口老龄化带来了重大的公共卫生和社会心理挑战。特别是，与非女同性恋、男同性恋和双性恋（LGB）的老年人（异性恋）相比，LGB老年人可能面临更多的脆弱性和边缘化问题，这可能给他们的心理健康带来更多风险。本研究的目的是比较评估LGB和非LGB老年人在保护性社会支持、精神性以及恢复力和压力因素（孤独感和年龄歧视）方面的水平，以及它们对心理困扰（PD）的影响。
收集了647名60岁及以上的老年人样本（平均年龄=66.01岁；标准差=4.93岁），其中368名非LGB老年人和279名LGB老年人。通过在葡萄牙进行的在线调查来参与研究。
与非LGB老年人相比，LGB老年人在所有保护因素上得分较低，但在来自朋友的社会支持方面除外；在所有压力因素上得分较高，但在敌意性年龄歧视方面除外。此外，无论性取向如何，恢复力和孤独感都是心理困扰的主要预测因素。压力因素在LGB和非LGB老年人中都解释了心理困扰水平超过保护因素影响的部分。
老年人的心理困扰根据其性取向呈现出不同的保护因素和压力因素。建议在老龄化与性取向的交叉领域进行更多的比较研究。
