Ostermiller Lindsey, Anderson Austen R, Warlick Craig A, Dahlen Eric R
School of Psychology, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA.
J Am Coll Health. 2025 May;73(5):1963-1972. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2024.2409704. Epub 2024 Oct 10.
There are well-documented health disparities among sexual and/or gender minority (LGBTQ+) individuals generally, but there is limited research investigating the disparities in health-related lifestyle factors and mental health among LGBTQ+ graduate students, which is a group that may be especially vulnerable.
This project was a secondary analysis of data from the American College Health Association's National College Health Assessment's (NCHA) Fall 2019 wave, which included 7,766 graduate students.
Students self-reported engagement in health-related lifestyle factors and psychological distress. Welch's independent samples t-tests were used to compare differences in psychological distress and lifestyle behaviors and multiple linear regression models were used to test lifestyle factors as predictors of LGBTQ+ psychological distress.
LGBTQ+ graduate students reported worse lifestyle profiles compared to their peers and greater psychological distress. Sleep quality had the strongest association with psychological distress among LGBTQ+ graduate students.
These findings have important implications for policies and interventions to improve health and decrease suffering in LGBTQ+ graduate students.
一般而言，性少数和/或性别少数（LGBTQ+）群体存在有充分记录的健康差异，但针对LGBTQ+研究生群体在与健康相关的生活方式因素和心理健康方面的差异进行调查的研究有限，而这一群体可能特别脆弱。
本项目是对美国大学健康协会全国大学健康评估（NCHA）2019年秋季调查数据的二次分析，该调查涵盖了7766名研究生。
学生自行报告在与健康相关的生活方式因素和心理困扰方面的情况。采用韦尔奇独立样本t检验来比较心理困扰和生活方式行为的差异，并使用多元线性回归模型来检验生活方式因素作为LGBTQ+心理困扰预测指标的情况。
与同龄人相比，LGBTQ+研究生报告的生活方式状况更差，心理困扰也更大。睡眠质量与LGBTQ+研究生的心理困扰关联最为紧密。
这些发现对于改善LGBTQ+研究生健康状况和减轻其痛苦的政策及干预措施具有重要意义。
