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LGBTQ+ individuals face substance use disparities linked to minority stress. While community belongingness may buffer stress, its role is complex. This study examined divergent associations between belongingness within the LGBTQ+ community and lifetime illicit drug use versus past-year alcohol frequency among LGBTQ+ adults in Kentucky (n = 2953), a region with notably high rates of substance use. Methods: Cross-sectional online survey data were analyzed. We measured LGBTQ+ belongingness, lifetime use of cocaine/crack/heroin/methamphetamine, and past-year alcohol frequency. Logistic and linear regressions controlled for age, education, gender identity, and income. Results: Greater belongingness predicted significantly higher odds of lifetime illicit drug use (OR = 1.24) but lower past-year alcohol consumption frequency (B = −0.094). Transgender and gender expansive identity predicted significantly higher illicit drug use odds and higher alcohol frequency. Conclusions: In this Kentucky sample, LGBTQ+ belongingness showed divergent substance use associations: it was protective against frequent alcohol use but, unexpectedly, was associated with higher odds of lifetime illicit drug use. Findings highlight belongingness’s complex, context-dependent nature and the need for nuanced research and interventions considering substance type and specific vulnerabilities, particularly for TGE individuals.

Although filial piety is considered as a salient value in the Chinese culture, studies on the mental well-being of Chinese lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals rarely take filial piety into account or examine it in relation to other variables to clarify the mechanism between filial piety and mental well-being. A total of 1453 LGB participants from 30 provinces and regions in Mainland China completed the online survey. They provided demographic information and completed measures of filial piety, a general interpersonal factor (i.e., perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness), an LGB-specific interpersonal factor (i.e., perceived parental support for sexual orientation), and mental well-being. Structural equation modelling results indicated that higher reciprocal filial piety was directly, and indirectly through lower thwarted belongingness, associated with better mental well-being. Lower authoritarian filial piety was indirectly associated with better mental well-being through higher perceived parental support for sexual orientation and lower thwarted belongingness. In addition, reciprocal filial piety had a stronger effect on perceived parental support for sexual orientation and perceived burdensomeness among lesbians and bisexual women than gay and bisexual men. These findings suggest that reciprocal filial piety is a protective factor, whereas authoritarian filial piety is a risk factor, for the mental well-being of Chinese LGB persons. Moreover, perceived parental support for sexual orientation and thwarted belongingness might be the mechanisms underlying the effect of reciprocal/authoritarian filial piety on mental well-being. Implications of findings for practice and research are discussed.

Embracing Queer Students' Diverse Identities at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: A Primer for Presidents, Administrators, and Faculty is both a call to action and a resource for historically Black college and university (HBCU) leaders and administrators, focusing on historical and contemporary issues related to expanding inclusionary.

The impact of racial and sexual minority stigma and discrimination on the mental health and well-being of Black and LGBTQ individuals, respectively, has been well documented in the literature. Research on these relationships for Black LGBTQ individuals who are multiply marginalized due to their position at the social intersections of gender identity, sexual orientation and race/ethnicity is less common. Belongingness to identity-based communities can protect against the negative impact of these minority stressors for Black and LGBTQ individuals and aid coping processes. However, Black LGBTQ individuals often experience stigma and discrimination in their racial, sexual, and gender minority communities due to their multiple minority identities. They may choose instead to create Black LGBTQ communities as a strategy to access the group- level coping resources needed to support their mental health and well-being in the face of compounded minority stress. Thus, the present study aimed to explore the relationships between identity-based community belongingness, coping, minority stress, mental health and well-being for Black LGBTQ individuals. Path and multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the hypothesized relationships between these variables in a sample (n = 345) of Black LGBTQ adults living in the United States. Study results found that: (1) community belongingness was associated with better mental health and well-being; (2) coping partially explained the relationships between community belongingness and well-being, but did not explain the relationship between community belongingness and mental health; (3) Black community belongingness was associated with better mental health; and (4) Black LGBTQ community belongingness was associated with better well-being. Implications for social work practice and education, and future research, are discussed.

Black LGBTQ+ adults face significant health disparities stemming from intersecting minority stressors. While community belongingness is often theorized as a protective factor, these communities can also be sites of exclusion, creating a complex dynamic. This study’s objective was to test whether community belongingness moderates the relationship between minority stress, operationalized as microaggressions, and subjective well-being in a national sample of Black LGBTQ+ adults. Data were taken from a national online survey of 345 Black LGBTQ+ adults conducted between November 2020 and January 2021. We used validated scales to measure experiences of microaggressions, subjective well-being, and community belongingness. A moderated multiple regression analysis was conducted using the PROCESS macro to test for an interaction effect, controlling for demographic covariates. Minority stress was significantly negatively associated with well-being (b = −0.11, p = 0.005), while community belongingness was positively associated with well-being (b = 0.43, p < 0.001). A significant interaction emerged (b = −0.01, p = 0.021). Simple slopes analysis revealed that the negative relationship between minority stress and well-being was strongest for individuals with high community belongingness (b = −0.18, p < 0.001) and was not significant for those with low belongingness, potentially indicating an exacerbating effect. Contrary to the buffering hypothesis, community belongingness paradoxically amplified the negative impact of minority stress on well-being. This paradox of belonging suggests that highly connected communities may become sites for trauma bonding, which can amplify distress. Public health efforts must focus not only on fostering connection but on building communities that are resourceful, inclusive, and capable of transforming shared experiences into collective empowerment.

During the lockdown measures put in place at the time of the first wave of the Covid‐19 pandemic in Spain (March through June 2020), LGBTQ+ youth lived through a particularly stressful situation that has so far received little attention. Confined in homes that are often hostile to their sexuality, struggling with the transition to online classes, they reached out to Internet social networks to obtain the support most of them lack in person. This article explores the role of technology for LGBTQ+ youth during a period when the educational environment was not supportive of students’ sexuality and identity needs. The research assesses correlations between the use of online social networks and the perceptions of support received from others (using the concepts of social support, thwarted belongingness and burdensomeness, and cohabitation in their homes). The study involves a sample of 445 Spanish participants aged 13 to 21. A descriptive multivariate analysis of variance and bivariate correlations was performed. We found that social networks were very important for LGBTQ+ youth during the pandemic, helping them to explore their identities, but could also be a source of violence. In this regard, while trans and nonbinary youth’s use of social networks to contact acquaintances show important differences when compared to that of gays, lesbians, and bisexuals, the former group also experiences more violence coming from these networks, finds less social support through them, and feels a stronger sense of burdensomeness in relation to them. Additionally, they were often living with people other than family members during the lockdown. This data suggests the need to offer specific support and online services for LGBTQ+ youth, particularly for trans and nonbinary youth.

Internalized homophobia is common among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) persons; moreover, it can be associated with suicide proneness, among other mental health concerns. The present paper hypothesized cognitions concerning perceived burdensomeness, but not thwarted belongingness, as mediating pathways of the association of internalized homophobia and suicide proneness in a community sample of LGB persons. Further, prior hate crime victimization experiences, suicide attempt history, level of depressive symptoms, and gender were tested as moderators of the above mediation pathway. Participants consisted of 336 LGB community members from an urban primary care clinic. Results indicated that perceived burdensomeness, but not thwarted belongingness, mediated the relationship between internalized homophobia and suicide proneness Further, the following moderation patterns were observed: both gender (significant for males only) and depressive symptoms (significant for those with mild-to-severe levels of depressive symptoms) moderated the perceived burdensomeness pathway. Implications for theory and future research are discussed.