Citation

Burch E, Nelson KL, Wilson D. Natl. Soc. Sci. J. 2020; 53(2): 31-37.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, National Social Science Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Loneliness and depression are common problems among college students, as well as among gender and sexual minorities. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine rates of loneliness and depression in LGBT+ students versus in cisgender heterosexual students at Southern Arkansas University (SAU). The independent variables were the orientation and gender identity of the participant, and the dependent variables were the rates of loneliness and depression. Using the 123 participants' scores on the UCLA Loneliness Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory, loneliness and depression were found to have a strong positive correlation (r=0.72), indicating their frequent comorbidity. It was also found that those who held sexual minority status, especially non-monosexual status, were significantly more likely to experience elevated levels of both loneliness (p=0.001) and depression (p=0.000). The roles of family acceptance and year in school were also examined, but the study found no significant correlations between either of those variables with loneliness or depression.

Language: en