Abstract

Depressive symptoms are a significant health concern among sexual minority women, with bisexual women at a higher risk than lesbian women. Internalized heterosexism is a key risk factor for depression among sexual minority women. Sense of belonging to the LGBTIQ + community is protective for lesbian women, but the limited research among bisexual women has shown inconsistent results. The current study investigated whether a sense of belonging to the LGBTIQ + community was directly related to fewer depressive symptoms and indirectly related via lower levels of internalized heterosexism, and whether the indirect effect was similar for bisexual and lesbian women. A sample of 175 self-identified bisexual women and 311 self-identified lesbian women aged 18 to 61 years (M = 31.91, SD = 11.38) completed the Psychological subscale of the Sense of Belonging Instrument, the Internalized Homophobia Scale, and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Bisexual women reported higher levels of depressive symptoms and internalized heterosexism, and lower levels of a sense of belonging to the LGBTIQ + community, than lesbian women. A sense of belonging to the LGBTIQ + community was directly associated with lower depressive symptoms and indirectly related via lower internalized heterosexism. However, sexual orientation moderated the indirect relationship. The indirect effect of a sense of belonging to the LGBTIQ + community on depressive symptoms was significant for lesbian women but not bisexual women. Results imply that increasing a sense of belonging to the LGBTIQ + community may be beneficial for bisexual and lesbian women, but the pathways by which protection is afforded will differ.

摘要

抑郁症状是性少数女性中最关注的健康问题，双性恋女性的患病风险高于女同性恋女性。内在的异性恋是少数民族女性中抑郁症的主要危险因素。对LGBTIQ +社区的归属感对女同性恋妇女具有保护作用，但双性恋妇女中的有限研究表明结果不一致。当前的研究调查了一种归属于LGBTIQ +社区的感觉是否与较少的抑郁症状直接相关，是否通过较低水平的内在异性恋而间接相关，以及对双性恋和女同性恋女性的间接影响是否相似。样本为年龄在18至61岁之间的175位自我识别的双性恋女性和311位自我识别的女同性恋女性（M  = 31.91，SD = 11.38）完成了“归属感”的心理次级量表，内部恐惧症量表和流行病学研究中心抑郁量表。与同性恋妇女相比，双性恋妇女报告的抑郁症状和内在异性恋水平更高，对LGBTIQ +社区的归属感也更低。属于LGBTIQ +社区的感觉与较低的抑郁症状直接相关，而与较低的内化异性恋间接相关。但是，性取向减轻了间接关系。对女同性恋者而言，属于LGBTIQ +社区的归属感对抑郁症状的间接影响显着，而对双性恋女性则没有。