The psychological health and associated factors of men who have sex with men in China: A cross-sectional survey

Abstract

ObjectivesThe psychological health of men who have sex with men (MSM) has received increased attention in recent years. We thus investigated the psychological status and associated factors among MSM in China.MethodsA cross-sectional survey of 248 MSM was conducted from April to September 2015 using Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) in Huludao and Zhengzhou, China. Statistical analyses utilized SPSS version 19.0 for Windows.ResultsAll Cronbach’s α coefficients of the SCL-90 subscales exceeded 0.7, suggesting acceptable reliability. The coefficient range of the collective validity for all the subscales was >0.4. For the divisional validity, each item correlated better with the hypothetical subscale than with other subscales. Collective validity and divisional validity were both acceptable. The four most frequent types of psychological distress among MSM were depression, obsessive-compulsive behavior, interpersonal sensitivity, and anxiety. Results of the univariate analysis revealed that the following groups had significantly higher SCL-90 scores (P < 0.05): peasantry, married MSM, respondents who reported condomless anal intercourse and a greater number of male partners, and respondents who had not undergone psychosocial counseling and whose family or friends did not know about their sexual identity. In a multivariate logistic regression model, the following parameters were independently associated with higher SCL-90 scores: being married (AOR [adjusted odds ratio] = 3.19; 95% CI [confidence interval]: 1.96 to 5.93), condomless anal intercourse (AOR = 1.16; 95% CI: 1.02 to 1.31), number of male partners (AOR = 1.66 and 1.81; 95% CI: 1.08 to 2.34 and 1.32 to 2.69), family or friends not knowing about sexual identity (AOR = 2.13; 95% CI: 1.17 to 4.92), and lack of psychosocial counseling (AOR = 2.09; 95% CI: 1.06 to 4.09).ConclusionsOur results indicate that psychological health problems among MSM in China are of concern. It is thus necessary to strengthen intervention efforts, with more emphasis on intervention programs to improve psychological health among Chinese MSM.

The Prevalence of Depression Associated with the Infection Status and Sexual Behaviors among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Shenzhen, China: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…In this study, 34.7% of MSM among the 334 respondents had depression symptoms. Compared to previous findings, the results of the depression rate were consistent with studies in northeast China and Jiangsu province (respectively, 33.1% and 26.8% [20,21]) and higher than a study in Zhengzhou [22], which found only 20.3% to suffer from depression. One reason for this discrepancy may be that different measurement scales have different evaluation purposes and methods, leading to differences between the research results.…”

Suboptimal health status and psychological symptoms among Chinese college students: a perspective of predictive, preventive and personalised health

“…The standardised mean score was obtained to measure the symptom in each dimension. A standardised subscale score ≥ 2 was suggestive of having the symptom in a specific dimension [29].…”

Uptake and willingness to use PrEP among Chinese gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men with experience of sexualized drug use in the past year

“…Although acceptance of same-sex relationships is growing in many western countries, stigma toward homosexuals is still widespread in China [45]. As a result, previous studies reported high prevalence of mental health problems among GBMSM in China [46,47]. Moreover, psychoactive substance use and SDU were associated with poorer mental health status among GBMSM [48][49][50][51].…”