ArticleBMC psychology2023
The impact of social connectedness on mental health in LGBTQ + identifying individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.
Article in BMC psychology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Alcohol and tobacco use among sexual and gender minority cancer survivors in relation to urbanicity/rurality.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2025Article
- Loneliness and Intersectional Discrimination Among Aging LGBT People in Spain: A Qualitative Research Study of Gay Men.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Validation of the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) in a Representative Sample of Adolescents: Links with Well-being, Mental Health, and Suicidal Behavior.Psychosocial intervention · 2025Article
- Social networks and loneliness differ between LGBTIA and cis-heterosexual persons: results from a two-wave survey in Germany.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Psychometric Validation of the Connectedness to the LGBT Community Scale among Black Sexual Minority Men Living with HIV.Journal of community health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRecent 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.
methodsN = 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.
resultsLGBTQ + 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.
conclusionGiven 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.
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Registered trials
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