Author ORCID Identifier

Debra L. Brucker ORCID ID: 0000-0002-3081-5206

Chris Surfus ORCID ID: 0000-0003-2036-172X

Megan Henly ORCID ID: 0000-0003-2035-9806

Abstract

Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s weekly Household Pulse Survey conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic (July 21, 2021 – October 11, 2021), this study examines the prevalence of anxiety, worry, loss of interest and depression, receipt of mental health treatment, and self-reported unmet need for mental health treatment among adults with and without disabilities by lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) status. Controlling for age, educational attainment, employment, health insurance coverage, and race/ethnicity, adults with disabilities, regardless of LGBT status, had statistically significantly increased odds of anxiety, worry, loss of interest and depression, receipt of mental health treatment, and unmet need for mental health treatment compared to adults without disabilities who were not LGBT. Adjusted rates of receipt of mental treatment ranged from a low of eight percent for persons without disabilities who were straight to 27 percent for persons with disabilities who were LGBT. Eight percent of persons without disabilities who were not LGBT reported not getting the mental health treatment they needed, holding all else constant, while 17 to 35 percent of other persons reported unmet need for mental health services. These results highlight the need for expansions of the mental health service delivery system in the U.S. as well as a prioritization of accessibility and inclusiveness practices.

Date Created

2023

Department

Institute on Disability

Publication Date

2023

Subject

Mental health among LGBT people

Grant/Award Number and Agency

Acknowledgements: Funding for this study was provided by the Advanced Rehabilitation Research and Training (ARRT) Program on Employment Policy at the University of New Hampshire, which is funded by the National Institute for Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, in the Administration for Community Living, at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) under grant number 90AREM000401 and by the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Statistics and Demographics at the University of New Hampshire, which is funded by the National Institute for Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, in the Administration for Community Living, at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) under cooperative agreement 90RTGE00010100. The contents do not necessarily represent the policy of DHHS and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government (EDGAR, 75.620 (b)).

Journal Title

Rehabilitation Psychology

Language

English

Publisher

American Psychological Association

Medium

Journal

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1037/rep0000511

Document Type

Article

Source

N/A

Rights

©American Psychological Association, 2023. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. The final article is available at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/rep0000511.

Comments

This is a preprint of an article published by APA in Rehabilitation Psychology in 2023, the Version of Record is available online: https://doi.org/10.1037/rep0000511

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