Mental Health for Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) and Women Who Have Sex with Women (WSW)

Abstract

<p>This chapter reviews mental health research of sexual minorities who are defined by their same-gender sexual behavior. Women who have sex with women (WSW) and men who have sex with men (MSM) encompass not only those who identify as LGBQ+ but also people who identify as heterosexual or are unsure of their sexual orientation. The authors discuss the implications of this broad categorization on the study of mental disorders and psychological distress and present the typical rates of risk for WSW and MSM overall and within subgroups (e.g., heterosexual-identified WSW, Black MSM). This area of research is often hindered by the multiple ways in which MSM and WSW groups can be defined and the vast heterogeneity of people who fall within these categories. Further, because of the origins of WSW/MSM-terminology in HIV/AIDS research, there is a gendered imbalance in allocation of research funding toward MSM over WSW. Future research should address the limitations of this categorization system in understanding mental health by including multiple measures of sexuality to create a fine-grained understanding of which experiences of WSW/MSM transfer risk and by addressing the paucity of research on WSW and their mental health.</p>

Treat Sexual Stigma to Heal Health Disparities: Improving Sexual Minorities’ Health Outcomes

“…Sexual minorities continue to endure social devaluation; therefore, they follow the same pattern of social status and negative health reliably observed in stigma research. Sexual orientation-based disparities are well-documented across psychological health problems (e.g., anxiety, substance disorders, suicide ideation; Salomaa & Matsick, 2020), physical health issues (e.g., diabetes, cardiovascular disease; Lick et al, 2013), and quality of health care (e.g., barriers to accessing care; IOM, 2011).…”

“…Knowledge gaps remain in the health disparities literature that warrant researchers’ attention. First, the majority of research relies on White, young, educated, and urbanized sexual minorities (Chaudoir et al, 2017; Salomaa & Matsick, 2020), though sexual minorities at other social locations experience stigma and health problems (e.g., elderly individuals, people of color, rural communities). Likewise, subgroups of sexual minorities, such as bisexual people, are at risk but often omitted from research.…”

“…Likewise, subgroups of sexual minorities, such as bisexual people, are at risk but often omitted from research. Moreover, the health literature underrepresents sexual-minority women compared to sexual-minority men (Salomaa & Matsick, 2020). This disparity likely exists because of the sizable resources required to obtain representative samples.…”

Catalyzing change: A framework for equitable health among MSM—insights from South Africa for developing nations

“…This access hindrance has given rise to a significant upsurge in the prevalence of HIV/AIDS among MSM, particularly conspicuous in developing nations such as South Africa, where the impact is notably pronounced on the African continent. The resultant health disparities experienced by MSM manifest in a spectrum of adverse outcomes encompassing substance abuse, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, and depression (Salomaa & Matsick, 2020; Scheibe et al, 2017).…”