Gender and Sexuality Identity Support in Collegiate Recovery Programs Lowers Depression for LGBTQ+ Participants, Which Is Related to Increased Recovery Capital

PURPOSE: Compared to their cisgender/heterosexual peers, LGBTQ+ college students are at elevated risk of substance use and mental health challenges (Marshall, 2008, 2011). In general, having more support for one’s LGBTQ+ identity is related to less depression and better recovery outcomes (CITE). Collegiate recovery programs (CRPs) provide recovery, academic, and social support to students in recovery from substance use disorders, but limited research has examined the unique needs of LGBTQ+ CRP students. We examined the relationship between support for LGBTQ+ identity, identity-related discrimination experiences, depression, and recovery capital. In addition, we compared the psychosocial and recovery functioning of LGBTQ+ and cisgender/heterosexual (cis-het) CRP students.

METHODS: We examined data from N=113 LGBTQ+ participants from the National Longitudinal Collegiate Recovery Study (Smith et al., 2023), representing students from 58 CRPs across the US, Canada, and the UK. We conducted two linear regressions. Regression 1 examined the impact of how supported they felt their LGBTQ+ identity was at their CRP and the number of identity-related experiences of discrimination they had (0-10) on depression subscale scores of the SLC-90, controlling for age. Regression 2 examined the effect of depression scores and number of discrimination experiences on Brief Assessment of Recovery Capital (BARC) scores, controlling for age.

RESULTS: The model examining the effect of identity support and discrimination on depression scores explained 40.2% of depression scores for LGBTQ+ participants in CRPs (adjR2 = 0.139, F(3,109) = 7.010, p < .001). Higher identity support scores were associated with lower depression scores (β=.318, p<.001), and lower discrimination scores were associated with higher depression scores (β=-.216, p=.016). The model examining the effect of identity support and depression scores on BARC scores explained 46.1% of BARC total scores for participants in CRPs (adjR2 = 0.200, F(3,201) = 18.037, p < .001). Higher identity support scores were not significantly associated with higher BARC scores (β=.083, p=.194), but higher depression scores were associated with lower BARC scores (β=-.444, p<.001).

CONCLUSIONS: While having LGBTQ+ identity support is not directly related to recovery capital, it is instrumental in reducing depression, and having lower levels of depression is related to having more recovery capital for LGBTQ+ CRP students. CRPs can better support their LGBTQ+ students in a number of ways, including using correct names and pronouns, managing incidents of discrimination that occur within recovery spaces, and working with LGBTQ+ campus organizations to identify other ways to improve services.