Disparities in positive mental health of sexual and gender minority adults in Canada

Abstract

The goal of this study was to examine potential disparities in positive mental health (PMH) among adults in Canada by sexual orientation and gender modality.

Using 2019 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) Annual Component data (N = 57 034), we compared mean life satisfaction and the prevalence of high selfrated mental health (SRMH), happiness and community belonging between heterosexual and sexual minority adults, and between cisgender and gender minority adults. We used 2019 CCHS Rapid Response on PMH data (N = 11 486) to compare the prevalence of high psychological well-being between heterosexual and sexual minority adults. Linear and logistic regression analyses examined the between-group differences in mean life satisfaction and the other PMH outcomes, respectively.

Sexual minority (vs. heterosexual) adults reported lower mean life satisfaction (B = −0.7, 95% CI: −0.8, −0.5) and were less likely to report high SRMH (OR = 0.4, 95% CI: 0.3, 0.5), happiness (OR = 0.4, 95% CI: 0.3, 0.5), community belonging (OR = 0.6, 95% CI: 0.5, 0.7) and psychological well-being (OR = 0.4, 95% CI: 0.3, 0.6). Differences were not always significant for specific sexual minority groups in sexstratified analyses. Gender minority adults reported lower mean life satisfaction and were less likely to report high SRMH and happiness than cisgender adults.

Future research could investigate how these PMH disparities arise, risk and protective factors in these populations, how other sociodemographic factors interact with sexual orientation and gender identity to influence PMH and changes in disparities over time.