Sexual minorities more likely to have mental health issues: SFU study

A new study by SFU researchers shows that while Canadians are generally experiencing more depression and anxiety, mental health is even worse among sexual minorities. Using data from the nationwide Canadian Community Health Survey, Travis Salway, assistant professor of health sciences at SFU, and fellow researchers, examined around 1M survey responses over 18 years from 2003 to 2020. According to Salway, this is one of the longest trend analyses of mental health and substance use comparing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and heterosexual adults in Canada. The study is in the September 2024 issue of SSM Population Health Journal. 

“What we found is that the percentage of people in Canada experiencing poor self-rated mental health, such as depression and anxiety, increased for LGB and heterosexual survey participants,” Salway said. 

Since 2003, the Canadian Community Health Survey has been asking about respondents’ sexual identities, but until recently, this was limited to heterosexual, lesbian, or gay identities. Salway said that having a large sample size was an advantage for the study, but there were some limitations. 

“We know that the mental health status of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in Canada is worse than the mental health status of heterosexual people, and that’s not getting better,” Salway said. “That tells us that we have a lot more work to do when it comes to creating policies and environments that are meaningfully inclusive and affirming of queer people.” 

University of Toronto researcher and Salway’s colleague Joshun Dulai is also examining the same dataset for research on the intersection of sexual minorities and racial minorities, with emphasis on South Asian men in the GTA. Dulai said the data shows that mental health struggles are likely to be even greater among 2SLGBTQIA+ people of colour in Canada. 

Dulai’s research also shows that fostering a sense of belonging and community among queer people of colour is essential in improving their mental health. 

“Different groups have different experiences, and no one is a monolith. We need to tailor different interventions that work best for everyone. Mental health professionals need to work to understand people’s various identities and work to find ways to support them. One way to do that is to encourage community connections to develop resilience,” Dulai said. 

Dulai said that more research needs to be done about intersectional identities as well as Two Spirit, intersex, and asexual people, as there is not enough data about their experiences and the challenges they face. 

While both researchers acknowledge that Canada has made great strides in equality for sexual minorities, they said that the data shows there is still a great deal of work to be done. 

“We’ve done some good work here in Burnaby, with a shoutout to my colleague Wendy Palmer who works at the faculty of education here at SFU. Wendy was a trailblazer in getting the Burnaby School District to adopt inclusive sex-ed and SOGI curriculum,” Salway said. “I’m really appreciative of the work that our city has done for LGBTQ people, but we need to keep going because trans people and trans youth are still at risk.”

Some of the study’s limitations are that survey questions have changed over the years, and it was necessary to focus only on questions consistently included in the survey over the 18-year period. Salway’s analysis examined tobacco use and smoking, one of the few questions that had been consistent over the 18-year period. 

“Tobacco use for everyone in Canada has been going down in the last 15 years. What’s concerning to us is that as it’s gone down, we still see a higher frequency of smoking among lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. In the paper, we interpret that alongside the mental health data. For some people who are experiencing very stressful lives, smoking cigarettes or using other substances can be a form of coping,” Salway said.  

One crucial factor in improving the mental health outcomes among sexual minorities is involving their communities in the development of policies that affect them. 

“One of the things that bothered me when the government was banning conversion practices was that the consultation with members of the community, particularly those with lived experience of conversion therapy, was very minimal,” Salway said. 

Salway and Dulai both expressed concern about the backlash against transgender people in North America in general. They said this type of backlash may be seriously harmful to the mental health of trans individuals, especially teens and young adults. 

“We are currently witnessing a political regression in how our political leaders are showing up to support and ensure the safety of trans people, particularly trans youth. I’m deeply worried,” Salway said. “This is a trend we’ve seen in the United States happening over the last five to 10 years.” 

Salway added that several provinces, including New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, have enacted policies that limit teachers’ ability to affirm students’ gender identities by requiring parental consent before using affirmed pronouns. Salway said this is a problem because some youth may come from homes that are not supportive of their gender identities, and school needs to be a safe place for them.

This piece was made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.

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