TY - JOUR U1 - Wissenschaftlicher Artikel A1 - Firk, Christine A1 - Großheinrich, Nicola A1 - Scherbaum, Norbert A1 - Deimel, Daniel T1 - The impact of social connectedness on mental health in LGBTQ + identifying individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany JF - BMC Psychology N2 - Background: Recent studies report that LGBTQ + people have experienced high levels of mental health problems during COVID-19-related social distancing. Given the well-established association between social isolation and mental health, the main aim of the current study was to investigate differences in mental health and (perceived) social isolation and social support in LGBTQ + individuals compared to heterosexual, cisgender people and to explore whether the hypothesized higher mental health burden in LGBTQ + individuals is (partly) mediated by (perceived) social isolation or social support. Methods: N = 531 participants indicating belonging to the LGBTQ + community and N = 1826 not identifying as LGBTQ + participated in a cross-sectional online survey during the initial COVID-19-related lockdown in Germany. Standardized questionnaires were used to assess depression, anxiety, suicidality, loneliness and social support. Further, perceived social isolation and face-to-face communication during the lockdown were assessed. Results: LGBTQ + people had higher levels of depression, anxiety and suicidal thought, were lonelier and experienced less social support than non-LGBTQ + identifying individuals. Mediation analysis showed that the higher levels of mental health burden in LGBTQ + people were (partly) mediated by reduced social connectedness. Further face-to-face contact positively affected mental health by reducing feelings of loneliness. Conclusion: Given the high impact of loneliness on mental health, governmental actions should be taken to promote social connectedness particularly among LGBTQ + identifying individuals to ensure that the COVID- 19 pandemic does not exacerbate the health inequalities that already exist between LGBTQ+-identifying and heterosexual, cisgender people. KW - LGBT KW - Gender KW - Sexuelle Orientierung KW - Covid-19-Pandemie KW - Psychische Gesundheit KW - Depression KW - Angst KW - Suizidgefährdung KW - Einsamkeit KW - Isolation KW - LGBTQ+ KW - Gender identity KW - Sexual orientation KW - Covid-19 KW - Mental health KW - Anxiety KW - Suicidality KW - Loneliness KW - Social isolation Y1 - 2023 UN - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0295-opus4-50221 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01265-5 DO - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01265-5 VL - 11 SP - 1 EP - 9 S1 - 9 ER -