The association of resilience, perceived stress and predictors of depressive symptoms in sexual and gender minority youths and adults

Abstract

Research in the sexual and gender minority population (SGM) tends to focus on describing risk factors for negative health outcomes and identification of stressors, which tend to be higher in this population compared to the non-SGM (i.e., mainstream heterosexual) population. This study examines the intersection between perceived stress and resilience associated with self-reported depressive symptoms using standardised instruments, such as the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2), among SGM adults (n = 3017) and youths (n = 232). A higher proportion of SGM individuals are stressed and report depressive symptoms compared to non-SGM individuals, whereas the mean resilience scores were similar to the general population. For SGM adults, but not youths, we found an association between lower resilience scores and higher perceived stress scores. SGM adults who had a ‘higher’ depressive symptom score (PHQ-2 ≥ 3) were more likely to have a lower resilience score, a higher stress score, be unemployed or disabled, and less likely to have attended some college or graduated from college. For SGM youth, higher stress and lower resilience scores were associated with ‘higher’ depressive symptom score (PHQ-2 ≥ 3). Our findings suggest that resilience-based prevention and treatment approaches to depression may serve to mitigate the effect of stress in SGM individuals.