Abstract
Objective: This study examined the prevalence of mental health disorders and their clinical correlates in a university sample of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) students. Participants: College students at a large public university. Methods: An anonymous, voluntary survey was distributed via random e-mail generation to university students during April and May of 2011. LGBQ students were compared with their heterosexual counterparts on psychological and physical status as well as academic performance. Results: LGBQ students reported worse depressive symptoms, higher levels of perceived stress, considered themselves less attractive, and were more likely to be overweight. LGBQ students were significantly more likely to report histories of affective, substance use, and certain anxiety disorders as well as compulsive sexual behavior and compulsive buying. Conclusions: The higher rates of many psychiatric conditions among LGBQ students underscore the need for universities to provide LGBQ students a nonjudgmental environment to discuss sexual orientation and health issues.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 75-78 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Journal of American College Health |
| Volume | 62 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2 2014 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research was supported in part by a Center for Excellence in Gambling Research grant by the National Center for Responsible Gaming, an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (1RC1DA028279–01) to Dr Grant, and internal funding from Boynton Health Services, University of Minnesota.
Funding Information:
Dr Grant has received research support from NIDA, NCRG, Forest Pharmaceuticals, Roche Pharmaceuticals, Psyadon Pharmaceuticals, Transcept Pharmaceuticals, and the University of South Florida. He has also received royalties from American Psychiatric Publishing Inc, Oxford University Press, Norton, and McGraw Hill Publishers. Mr. Od-laug reports having consulted for Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals, having received a research grant from the Trichotillomania Learning Center and honoraria and royalties from Oxford University Press. Dr Lust and Dr Christenson report employment with Boynton Health Services. Ms Schreiber and Ms Derbyshire report no conflicts of interest relevant to the content of this article. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of a large midwestern university.
Copyright:
Copyright 2014 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Academic
- And queer (LGBQ)
- Bisexual
- Gay
- Impulse control
- Lesbian
- Mental health
- University