Lu Ruiqi, Chui Harold
Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Room 606, Chen Kou Bun Building, Hong Kong SAR, 999077, China.
Arch Sex Behav. 2025 May 23. doi: 10.1007/s10508-025-03148-9.
To understand Chinese asexual individuals' mental health needs and service utilization, the present research aimed to explore Chinese asexual individuals' navigation of their asexual identity within the Chinese sociocultural context and their experience of interacting with mental health practitioners on asexuality issues. A sample of 10 self-identified asexual individuals in China aged between 21 and 32 were recruited to participate in two semi-structured interviews. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was employed to explore the participants' perspectives in depth. The analysis established four themes, including (1) identity exploration and negotiation, (2) service consideration, (3) satisfying experiences, and (4) unsatisfying experiences. Themes uncover the support needs of Chinese asexual individuals, their barriers and facilitators to help-seeking, and their interactions with mental health practitioners. Findings highlight the importance of incorporating cultural competence, cultural humility, and affirmative practice to assist asexual individuals' navigation of identity and cultivation of resiliency. There is a pressing need to de-pathologize asexuality in mental health settings and integrate asexual issues in multicultural training and supervision.
为了解中国无性恋者的心理健康需求和服务利用情况，本研究旨在探讨中国无性恋者在中国社会文化背景下对其无性恋身份的认知过程，以及他们在无性恋问题上与心理健康从业者互动的经历。招募了10名年龄在21岁至32岁之间、自我认定为无性恋的中国个体作为样本，参与两次半结构化访谈。采用解释现象学分析方法深入探究参与者的观点。分析得出四个主题，包括（1）身份探索与协商，（2）服务考量，（3）满意经历，以及（4）不满意经历。这些主题揭示了中国无性恋者的支持需求、他们寻求帮助的障碍和促进因素，以及他们与心理健康从业者的互动。研究结果强调了纳入文化能力、文化谦逊和肯定性实践以帮助无性恋者进行身份认知和培养复原力的重要性。在心理健康环境中，迫切需要消除对无性恋的病理化认知，并将无性恋问题纳入多元文化培训和督导中。
