Introduction

This study compared childless Israeli lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals to their heterosexual counterparts on mental health and parenthood aspiration indicators and assessed the mediating role of parenthood aspirations in the association between being a member of a sexual minority and adverse mental health outcomes.

Methods

A total of 527 childless participants (150 self-reported as LGB people) ranging in age from 18 to 49 (M = 31.35, SD = 3.87) were recruited through convenience sampling between November 2019 and February 2020. They completed online questionnaires assessing their parenthood desires, intentions, likelihood estimations, depressive symptomatology, and life satisfaction.

Results

LGB individuals reported higher levels of depressive symptomatology and lower levels of life satisfaction, parenthood desires, intentions, and likelihood estimations than heterosexual counterparts. Lower parenthood aspirations fully mediated the association between being a sexual minority and lower life satisfaction and partially mediated the association between being a sexual minority and depressive symptomatology.

Conclusions

The findings pinpoint the role of parenthood aspirations in mental health disparities between LGB and heterosexual individuals and are interpreted in light of minority stress and the link between lower parenthood aspirations and adverse mental health in a pronatalist and familistic environment.

Policy Implications

The findings have implications for policy makers and health professionals that should be alerted to the impact of decreased parenthood aspirations to mental health disparities between LGB and heterosexual individuals.

中文翻译：

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为人父母的愿望在以色列的性取向和心理健康之间起到中介作用

简介

本研究将无子女的以色列女同性恋、男同性恋和双性恋 (LGB) 个体与异性恋者的心理健康和为人父母的愿望指标进行了比较，并评估了为人父母的愿望在成为性少数群体成员与不良心理健康结果之间的关系中的中介作用.

方法

 2019 年 11 月至 2020 年 2 月期间，通过便利抽样共招募了 527 名无子女参与者（150 名自称 LGB 人士），年龄在 18 至 49 岁之间（M  = 31.35，SD = 3.87）。他们完成了评估其父母身份的在线问卷欲望、意图、可能性估计、抑郁症状和生活满意度。

结果

与异性恋者相比，LGB 个体报告的抑郁症状水平更高，生活满意度、为人父母的愿望、意图和可能性估计水平更低。较低的父母期望完全调节了性少数与较低生活满意度之间的关联，并部分调节了性少数与抑郁症状之间的关联。

结论

研究结果指出了为人父母的愿望在 LGB 和异性恋者之间心理健康差异中的作用，并根据少数族裔的压力以及在生育和家庭环境中较低的为人父母的愿望与不良心理健康之间的联系来解释。

政策影响

研究结果对政策制定者和卫生专业人员有影响，他们应该警惕生育愿望下降对 LGB 和异性恋者之间心理健康差异的影响。