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Anxiety, depression and HIV in older gay and bisexual men

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

H. Pereira  and
I. Batista
H. Pereira*
Affiliation:
Ubi, Research Centre in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development, Covilha, Portugal Cics-ubi, Centre for Research in Health Sciences, Covilha, Portugal Psychology And Education, University of Beira Interior, Covilha, Portugal
I. Batista
Affiliation:
Psychology And Education, University of Beira Interior, Covilha, Portugal
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Negative consequences of social homonegativity and HIV status among older gay and bisexual men in Portugal are still to be documented.

Objectives

This study seeks to evaluate depression and anxiety disparities among older gay and bisexual men, based upon their HIV status.

Methods

This is a quantitative, descriptive, comparative, and cross-sectional study. Responses were collected from a total of 201 men, with 16.9% being HIV positive, 80.6% identifying as homosexual and 13.9% identifying as bisexual. Participants responded to the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the BSI-18, and the CDRISC-10.

Results

The sample collected revealed moderate levels of depression and anxiety that were below the average observed among the general population. Older gay men showed higher levels of depression when compared to older bisexual men. Self-esteem was negatively correlated with both depression and anxiety while being positively correlated with resilience. In contrast, depression was negatively correlated with resilience and, conversely, positively correlated with anxiety. Furthermore, anxiety was negatively correlated with resilience. Multiple linear regression models explain 33% of the general variation of depressive symptoms and 25% of the variation of symptoms of anxiety. Regarding comparisons based on HIV status, no statistically significant differences were found between HIV-positive and HIV-negative men.

Conclusions

This study offers a pioneering contribution to the literature on aging and mental health among older sexual minorities in Portugal, giving a voice to older HIV-positive and HIV-negative GBM in Portugal, in order to gain a better understanding of the barriers and obstacles that they face throughout the aging process.

Keywords

HIVAgingAnxietyDepression
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S190 - S191
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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