PMID- 27377408
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20170731
LR  - 20220330
IS  - 1471-244X (Electronic)
IS  - 1471-244X (Linking)
VI  - 16
DP  - 2016 Jul 4
TI  - Mental health help seeking patterns and associations among Australian same sex 
      attracted women, trans and gender diverse people: a survey-based study.
PG  - 209
LID - 10.1186/s12888-016-0916-4 [doi]
LID - 209
AB  - BACKGROUND: Same sex attracted women (SSAW) are disproportionately affected by 
      depression and anxiety, due to experiences of sexuality and gender based 
      discrimination. They access mental health services at higher rates than 
      heterosexual women, however with lower levels of satisfaction. This study 
      examined the range of professional and social help seeking by same-sex attracted 
      women, and patterns according to sexual orientation and gender identity subgroup. 
      METHODS: Eight key stakeholders were interviewed, and a convenience sample of 
      1628 Australian SSAW completed an online survey in 2015. This included several 
      scales to measure mental health, community connectedness and resilience; and 
      measured past 12 month help seeking behaviour, enablers, barriers and preferences 
      for mental health care. Chi-square analyses and binary logistic regression 
      analyses examined demographic associations with mental health. Correlations 
      between help seeking, mental and physical health, and connectedness were run. 
      RESULTS: A high proportion (80 %) of the total sample had perceived mental health 
      problems over the past 12 months. Over half had depression, and over 96 % had 
      anxiety. Trans and gender diverse participants were twice as likely as female 
      participants to have mental health problems, and lesbians were least likely. High 
      levels of past 12 month help seeking included 74.4 % seeing a GP, 44.3 % seeing a 
      psychologist/counsellor, 74.7 % seeking family/friends support and 55.2 % using 
      internet based support. Professional help was prioritised by those with higher 
      mental health need. Trans participants were most likely to have sought 
      professional help and participated in support groups, but least likely to have 
      sought help from friends or family. The most common barriers to help seeking were 
      discrimination and lack of LGBTI sensitivity of services, particularly for gender 
      diverse, queer and pansexual participants. Enablers included mainstream community 
      connectedness, having a trustworthy GP, and encouragement by friends. 
      CONCLUSIONS: Mental health services need to be LGBTI inclusive and to understand 
      the emerging diverse sexual and gender identities. Peer support is an important 
      adjunct to professional support, however may not be fully meeting the needs of 
      some identity sub-groups. Mental health promotion should be tailored for diverse 
      sub-groups to build mental health literacy and resilience in the face of ongoing 
      discrimination.
FAU - McNair, Ruth P
AU  - McNair RP
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-4738-8781
AD  - Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne, 200 Berkeley St, 
      Carlton, 3053, Victoria, Australia. r.mcnair@unimelb.edu.au.
FAU - Bush, Rachel
AU  - Bush R
AD  - School of Nursing and Midwifery, Deakin University, 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, 
      3125, Australia.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20160704
PL  - England
TA  - BMC Psychiatry
JT  - BMC psychiatry
JID - 100968559
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Australia/epidemiology
MH  - Depression/epidemiology
MH  - Female
MH  - Health Services Accessibility
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Mental Health Services/*statistics & numerical data
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Patient Acceptance of Health Care/*psychology
MH  - Sexual and Gender Minorities/*psychology
MH  - Social Support
MH  - Surveys and Questionnaires
MH  - Young Adult
PMC - PMC4932693
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Barriers
OT  - Enablers
OT  - Gender identity
OT  - Help-seeking
OT  - Mental health
OT  - Peer support
OT  - Sexual orientation
EDAT- 2016/07/06 06:00
MHDA- 2017/08/02 06:00
PMCR- 2016/07/04
CRDT- 2016/07/06 06:00
PHST- 2015/11/20 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2016/06/08 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2016/07/06 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2016/07/06 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2017/08/02 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2016/07/04 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1186/s12888-016-0916-4 [pii]
AID - 916 [pii]
AID - 10.1186/s12888-016-0916-4 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - BMC Psychiatry. 2016 Jul 4;16:209. doi: 10.1186/s12888-016-0916-4.