An Investigation of Possible Mediators between Activism and Depressive Symptoms Among LGBTQ+ Adults

Background and Purpose: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other gender and sexual minority (LGBTQ+) adults often reclaim leisure activities by creating their own safe and inclusive spaces to engage in activities typically situated within oppressive and heteronormative structures. For example, LGBTQ+ focused community sport organizations, such as Stonewall Sports, were formed by and for LGBTQ+ adults to find a sense of community and to reap the benefits of sport. Recent research suggests LGBTQ+ focused community sport can strengthen mental health (e.g., depressive symptoms) and be leveraged for LGBTQ+ rights activism. Also, evidence indicates activism can improve community connectedness, self-efficacy, hope, and mental well-being. Perhaps, activism improves mental well-being by fostering community connectedness, self-efficacy, hope, and resilience. Though, research is still needed to examine these relationships. Research also could benefit from examining activism and mental health within LGBTQ+ focused community sport settings. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the mediating roles of community connectedness, self-efficacy, and hope between activism and depressive symptoms among members of Stonewall Sports.

Methods: LGBTQ+ members of Stonewall Sports (n = 220) completed a survey that included the Black Community Activism Orientation Scale (BCAOS) revised for LGBTQ+ rights, Connectedness to the LGBT Community Scale, New General Self-Efficacy Scale, Herth Hope Index, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. The BCAOS contained subscales for low-risk, high-risk, and formal political activism.

Descriptive statistics were analyzed to report the prevalence of depressive symptoms. Then, structural equation modeling was performed using Mplus, where the measurement model was confirmed prior to identifying and evaluating the structural model. The means and variance-adjusted weighted least squared estimator was used to account for the ordinal and clustered nature of the data. Several pre-specified criteria were used to evaluate model fit, including a non-significant chi-square, comparative fit index and Tucker-Lewis Index of at least .95, and a root mean square error of approximation less than or equal to .06. After achieving good fit, the parameters were evaluated to determine the direct and indirect relationships between activism and depressive symptoms.

Results: Descriptive statistics showed that 40.5% of participants should be considered for some type of depressive disorder. After achieving good fit with the measurement model, the structural model had great fit: χ²(2815) = 3522.077 (p < .001), RMSEA = .034 [.030, .037], CFI = .952, and TLI = .950. Low-risk activism was associated with greater community connectedness, self-efficacy, and depressive symptoms. Community connectedness was associated with lower depressive symptoms, but did not mediate the relationship between activism and depressive symptoms. High-risk activism was associated with lower self-efficacy and hope. Hope was associated with lower depressive symptoms and fully mediated the relationship between high-risk activism and depressive symptoms. Formal political activism was unrelated to any other construct.

Conclusions and Implications: Findings highlight a need for mental health support within Stonewall Sports. When developing interventions to improve mental health, researchers should target Stonewall Sports players with higher levels of low-risk and high-risk activism. Interventions should emphasize community connectedness and hope, important protective factors for Stonewall Sports players.