The Importance of Social Support, Positive Identity, and Resilience in the Successful Aging of Older Sexual Minority Men

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between social support, positive identity, and resilience and the successful aging of older sexual minority men. The study involved having 210 self-identified gay and bisexual men aged between 50 and 80 years complete a cross-sectional online survey comprised of sociodemographic information; the Portuguese version of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support; the Lesbian, Gay, and multifactor Bisexual Positive Identity Measure; the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale 10; and the Successful Aging Perceptions Scale. The results showed that self-identified gay participants showed higher levels of positive identity, while bisexual participants scored higher for resilience, mental health, and successful aging. Higher levels of social support, resilience, and positive identity were significant predictors of mental health (28%), physical health (18%), and successful aging (10%) in our sample. These results offer similarities with the growing body of literature on the positive factors of successful aging in the gay and bisexual men communities, which is an important step in the development of aging and health preventive initiatives among this population.

Defining and researching the concept of resilience in LGBT+ later life: Findings from a mixed study systematic review

“…In those studies that reported ethnicity, the majority of participants were white and/or white non-Hispanic ethnicities, and the mean age varied from 52.5 to 67 years. While six of the quantitative studies mention gender identities besides men and women, five studies [ 43 , 44 , 51 , 71 , 75 ] focused exclusively on gay and bisexual men but none of the studies specifically state if all identified as cisgender. Six of the quantitative studies reported including people who identified as transgender or were reported as ‘other’ than female or male [ 10 , 45 , 46 , 48 , 68 , 69 ].…”

“…However, there is no uniformity in the definitions offered. In the remainder of the papers, resilience was not clearly defined although it was alluded to and perceived as a strength or a positive attribute generally [ 10 , 44 , 45 , 48 – 51 , 54 , 56 , 58 , 60 , 61 , 65 , 66 , 68 , 75 ]. Where resilience was defined as a process, it was mainly seen as a process of adaptation where older LGBT+ individuals responded to adversities over time.…”

It gets better with age: Resilience, stigma, and mental health among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer persons from Poland

“…Future, preferably longitudinal studies, should further investigate the associations between age and such variables as resilience, depression, and self-esteem in GSD populations. They could also explore to greater extent alternative sources of resilience such as positive identity (e.g., Pereira and Silva, 2021 ) or dispositional mindfulness ( Salvati et al, 2019 ), along with their age-related dynamics. One of the strengths of this analysis is the inclusion of not only cisgender men and women of various sexual identities but also transgender and non-binary persons in the study.…”

The Importance of Positive Factors in Protecting Adverse Mental Health Outcomes and Suicidal Behavior among Citizens of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries

“…Several studies have explored the protective factors of mental health, particularly social support, self-esteem, and resilience, in various populations (Batista & Pereira, 2020;Kurtović et al, 2018;Liu et al, 2021;Martínez-Martí & Ruch, 2017;Matel-Anderson et al, 2018;Pereira & Silva, 2021;Watson et al, 2019;Williams, 2018;Yıldırım & Tanrıverdi, 2021). An understanding of this phenomenon is critically important to mental health outcomes as it underlies prevention strategies and social and clinical interventions (Arango et al, 2018).…”

“…A review by Gariépy et al (2016) revealed that people's main source of social support tends to differ by age, as adults and older adults tend to rely more on the support of significant others, followed by support from family and friends, while younger people tend to rely more on parental support. Nevertheless, social support has been consistently portrayed as a protective factor for depression across all ages (Alsubaie et al, 2019;Gariépy et al, 2016;Martínez-Hernáez et al, 2016), and it is extremely relevant to more vulnerable groups such as older people or sexual minorities (Batista & Pereira, 2020;Pereira & Silva, 2021;Watson et al, 2019).…”