Sense of belonging to the general and gay communities as predictors of depression among Australian gay men.

Sense of belonging has been regarded as important for mental health. This study investigated sense of belonging to the general community and sense of belonging to the gay community as predictors of depression among self-identified Australian gay men (N = 137). Participants completed the Psychological subscale of the Sense of Belonging Instrument and the Depression subscale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales. Results offered support for the additive model and suggested that sense of belonging to the general community partially mediated the relation between sense of belonging to the gay community and depression, as well as the reverse, that sense of belonging to the gay community partially mediated the relation between sense of belonging to the general community and depression. Findings failed to support a moderation effect model. Results indicate that increasing a sense of belonging to both communities will be associated with a decrease in levels of depression reported by gay men.

Keywords: gay men, sense of belonging, depression, gay community, general community

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Research indicates that gay men are at elevated risk for depression compared with heterosexual men. For example, data from the Urban Men's Mental Health Study indicated that men who have sex with men had a higher 7-day prevalence of depression than adult U.S. men in general (Mills et al., 2004), and responses to the National Survey of Midlife Development in the U.S. indicated that gay and bisexual men were three times more likely to meet the criteria for major depression than heterosexual men (Cochran, Sullivan, & Mays, 2003).

The high levels of depression experienced by gay men can be traced, at least in part, to the broader community's negative perceptions of homosexuality. The idea of homosexuality often generates hostility and contempt from the heterosexual community, particularly in the form of homophobia and discrimination (Fontaine & Hammond, 1997). Externalized homophobia describes behaviour or attitudes of other people that affect gay individuals, such as being refused service or sustaining verbal or physical abuse, because of their sexual orientation (Hetrick & Martin, 1987). External homophobia is commonly experienced by gay men. For example, in a study of 3,039 Australian gay men, 13.9% reported HIV-related abuse and 39.0% reported homophobic abuse in the previous 12 months (Van de Ven, Kippax, Crawford, Race, & Rodden, 1998). Experiencing multiple episodes of anti-gay violence has been shown to be associated with high levels of depression (Mills et al., 2004).

The negative view of gay men gives rise to the possibility that they feel a reduced sense of belonging to the general community compared with heterosexual men. This proposition was empirically tested recently in an Australian study (McLaren, Jude, & McLachlan, 2007). Results from a survey completed by heterosexual (n = 136) and gay (n = 137) men indicated that gay men reported a lesser sense of belonging to the general community compared with heterosexual men. Results also suggested that a sense of belonging to the community mediated the relation between sexual orientation and depression, such that self-identifying as gay was associated with a lessened sense of belonging that, in turn, was associated with higher levels of depression.

Due to the hostility gay men experience in the broader community, it is not surprising that they often limit their social interactions to other gay men. Woolwine (2000), for example, demonstrated that gay friends were very important to gay men, and that such friendships helped to define a clear sense of a gay community. The perceived homophobia of much of society was cited as a reason for friendships with other gay men, who readily accepted and affirmed gay sexuality. Hart and Fitzpatrick's (1990) study indicated that the majority (66%) of gay men reported that half or more of their friends were other gay men, 75% reported that half or more of their social life was spent with other gay men, and 35% reported that proximity to the "gay scene" was a factor in deciding where to live. Other research has also highlighted the predominance of gay men among the friendship networks of gay men (Frable, Wortman, & Joseph, 1997). It is likely that a sense of belonging to the gay community is a protective factor against the development of depression derived from low levels of acceptance by the general community.

The need to belong should not be undervalued. Belonging has been regarded as a basic human need (Maslow, 1954), necessary for psychological well-being and self-actualisation (Chubb & Fertman, 1992). Sense of belonging has been defined from a psychological perspective as the experience of personal involvement and integration within a system or environment to the extent that a person feels they play a special role in that system or environment (Hagerty, Lynch-Sauer, Patusky, Bouwsema, & Collier, 1992). Sense of belonging appears important for psychological well-being. Research indicates that individuals who report a lesser sense of belonging are more likely to report higher levels of depression (Hagerty, Williams, Coyne, & Early, 1996; McLaren, Jude, Hopes, & Sherritt, 2001), suicidal ideation (Bailey & McLaren, 2005; Vanderhorst & McLaren, 2005), and fewer reasons to live (Kissane & McLaren, 2006).

In summary, a sense of belonging is an important predictor of mental health. In the light of previous research demonstrating that Australian gay men experience a lessened sense of belonging to the general community compared with heterosexual men, and that gay men rely on other gay men for support, the current research aimed to test the importance of belonging to the general community and to the gay community for the mental health of Australian gay men. It was predicted that a higher sense of belonging to the gay community and to the general community would be independently related to lower levels of depression (additive model). Analyses were also conducted to test for mediation and moderation effects, specifically (1) if there was any evidence that a sense of belonging to the general community mediates the relation of a sense of belonging to the gay community with depression, (2) if there was any evidence that a sense of belonging to the gay community mediates the relation of a sense of belonging to the general community with depression, and (3) if the interaction between a sense of belonging to the general community and a sense of belonging to the gay community was related to depression.

Method

Participants

One hundred and thirty-seven, self-identified gay men from the state of Victoria, Australia, volunteered to complete the questionnaire. The men ranged in age from 19 to 69 years (M = 39.28, SD = 10.58). Half of the sample was in a committed same-sex relationship (52%), with 48% being single. The majority of the sample lived in the state's capital city (69%), with the remainder living in regional and rural areas. The sample was highly educated, with 34% having completed secondary school or having a trade certificate, 36% having an undergraduate university degree and 28% having a postgraduate university degree. Over half of the sample worked full time (62%), with 14% working part time and 3% being unemployed.

Materials

The demographic section of the questionnaire asked participants to report their age, relationship status, postcode, highest education level achieved, and current employment status. Participants answered the question, "Would you consider yourself to be predominantly: heterosexual, gay or homosexual, bisexual, transgender or unsure?". Only men who answered "gay or homosexual" were included in the analyses.

The 18-item Psychological subscale of the Sense of Belonging Instrument (SOBI) (Hagerty & Patusky, 1995) assessed an individual's experience of feeling valued, needed and accepted, and the perception of fit or connectedness within a system or environment (e.g., "I feel like an outsider in most situations," "I feel like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle that doesn't fit into the puzzle"). Respondents gave ratings on a 4-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree; 4 = strongly agree), with higher scores indicating a greater sense of belonging. All participants completed the Instrument twice: once in response to the "general community" and once in response to the "gay community." Previous research has shown the Instrument to be a valid and reliable measure. The test-retest reliability coefficient for the Psychological subscale was r = .84 over an eight-week period (Hagerty & Patusky, 1995). Cronbach's alpha for a sample of Australians was .95 (McLaren et al., 2001). In terms of the present research, reliability analyses indicated alphas of .95 for both a sense of belonging to the general community and a sense of belonging to the gay community.

The 14-item Depression subscale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995) measures symptoms associated with a dysphoric mood (e.g., "I felt sad and depressed," "I felt that life was meaningless"). Participants used a 4-point Likert scale (1 = did not apply to me at all; 4 = applied to me very much, or most of the time) to rate the extent to which they had experienced each state over the past week. The subscales have been shown to have high internal consistency and to yield meaningful discriminations in a variety of settings (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). In terms of concurrent validity, scores on the depression subscale are moderately correlated with the Beck Depression Inventory (r = .77) (Antony et al., 1998). A previous study reported a Cronbach's alpha for the Depression subscale of .97 (Antony, Bieling, Cox, Enns, & Swinson, 1998). For the current sample, Cronbach's alpha was .97.

Procedure

Participants were recruited via a number of methods over several months. Initially, men were approached via friendship groups of the researchers. Participants were also recruited at prominent gay social events and via advertisements in gay magazines. Key organizations also assisted with promoting the research to the gay community. Interested participants were provided with additional questionnaires so that these could be passed on to other gay men who were not as involved in social events. Participation was voluntary and this was explained to potential participants in the plain language statement and during the course of speaking with them.

The questionnaire was also available on the internet. Advertisements in magazines aimed at gay men gave readers a web address, as well as a "log in" name and password. Once on the web site, there was an information page that explained the research with contact phone numbers if necessary, and a link to the current study. Men were able to complete the questionnaire online and send it anonymously via e-mail to the researcher. Almost a quarter (24%) of men participated in this manner.

Data Analysis

The additive and moderation effects were examined using hierarchical regression analysis. A sense of belonging to the gay community and a sense of belonging to the general community were entered at Step 1. At Step 2, the interaction term was entered (a sense of belonging gay community x a sense of belonging general community).

Prior to calculating the interaction term for the hierarchical regression, the sense of belonging terms were centred using the mean-deviation method (Tabachnick & Fidell, 1996). Therefore, mean-deviation scores were calculated for sense of belonging to the general community and a sense of belonging to the gay community. These new centred scores were then multiplied together to create the new interaction term: a sense of belonging gay community x a sense of belonging general community. This interaction term has several advantages. For example, Jaccard, Turrisi, and Wan (1990) argue that normal multiplicative interaction terms in regression analyses inflate standard errors of the regression coefficients, and Cronbach (1987) suggests that centering the predictor variables prior to forming a multiplicative term addresses the issue of multi-collinearity.

Each mediating effect was examined using the regression analyses approach proposed by Baron and Kenny (1986). For each relation, depression was initially regressed on the predictor. A second regression analysis was conducted in which the mediator was regressed on the predictor. This was followed by a third regression analysis in which depression was regressed on the predictor and the mediator simultaneously. As recommended by Baron and Kenny (1986), mediation was inferred if the predictor had an effect on depression (equation 1) and the mediator (equation 2), and if equation 3 indicated that (1) the mediator had an effect on depression, and (2) the effect of the predictor on depression was either significant but less than that found for this relation in equation 1 (partial mediation), or less and not significant (full mediation). The Sobel Test (Sobel, 1982) was used to test if any decrease from equation 1 to equation 3 was significant.

Results

Correlations were calculated between the sense of belonging variables and depression. Results are shown in Table 1 and showed that higher levels of a sense of belonging to both communities were associated with lower levels of depression.

Additive and Moderation Effects

Results can be seen in Table 2. At Step 1, the two sense of belonging variables accounted for 38% of the variance in depression scores. Results supported the additive model, with both a sense of belonging to the general and gay communities significantly predicting depression. The addition of the interaction term at Step 2 explained a non-significant 1% of the variance in depression scores. This result did not support the moderation effect model. The final model explained 39% of the variance in depression scores. A sense of belonging to each community significantly contributed to the predictive power of the model.

Mediation Effects

Table 3 shows the results of the regression analyses. The analyses pertaining to a sense of belonging to the gay community as a mediator indicate that the independent variable (a sense of belonging-general community) had an effect on depression and the mediator (a sense of belonging-gay community). The results from equation 3 indicate that the mediator had an effect on depression, and that the effect of a sense of belonging to the general community had decreased compared with equation 1, but remained significant. The Sobel Test indicated that this decrease was significant (z = -3.01, p < .003). These results indicated that a sense of belonging to the gay community partially mediated the relation between a sense of belonging to the general community and depression.

In relation to the analyses for a sense of belonging to the general community as a mediator, results indicated that the independent variable (a sense of belonging-gay community) had an effect on depression and the mediator (a sense of belonging-general community). Further, the results from equation 3 indicate that the mediator had an effect on depression and that the effect of the independent variable decreased, but remained significant. Again, the Sobel Test indicated that the decrease from equation 1 to equation 3 was significant (z = 4.74, p < .001). These results demonstrated that a sense of belonging to the general community partially mediated the relation between a sense of belonging to the gay community and depression.

Discussion

The study aimed to investigate the relationships between a sense of belonging to the gay and general communities and depression for a sample of Australian gay men. The results provided support for the additive model, with a sense of belonging to the general community and a sense of belonging to the gay community independently predicting depression, and for the two mediation models linking the two senses of belonging to the gay community with depression. The analyses did not demonstrate an interaction between the levels of belonging to the two communities

Results for the mediation effects indicated that a sense of belonging to the general community partially mediated the relation between a sense of belonging to the gay community and depression, just as a sense of belonging to the gay community partially mediated the relation between a sense of belonging to the general community and depression. Gay men who reported feeling valued and who felt that they fitted within the gay community reported higher levels of a sense of belonging to the general community, which, in turn, was associated with lower levels of depression. These results support a model that implies that increasing gay men's sense of belonging to the gay community may increase their sense of belonging to the general community, which may, in turn, reduce their experience of depression. Similarly, gay men who reported feeling valued and who felt that they fitted within the general community reported a higher sense of belonging in the gay community and, in turn, less depression. These results support a model that suggests that increasing gay men's sense of belonging to the general community may assist in developing a sense of belonging to the gay community, which may result in lower levels of depression. However, future research needs to confirm whether the proposed causal relationships inherent in the models exist.

Taken together, the results of this study indicate that belonging to the gay community and belonging to the general community are both related to depression directly, and also indirectly. These results support previous research that indicates that a sense of belonging is associated with lower levels of depression (Bailey & McLaren, 2005; Hagerty et al., 1996; McLaren et al., 2001). This is the first study to demonstrate that belonging to one community is related to belonging to another community. It is possible that feeling as though one is valued and fits within one community may give individuals the confidence and motivation to belong to another community. The interplay between belonging to multiple communities needs to be investigated. Qualitative methodologies would be particularly appropriate for this future research.

The results clearly highlight the importance of belonging to the gay community for the mental health of Australian gay men. In light of the high levels of sexual prejudice prevalent in Australia and other countries (Kelley, 2001), gay men have turned to each other for support (Frable et al., 1997; Hart & Fitzpatrick, 1990; Woolwine, 2000). These results indicate that the reliance on other gay men is directly and indirectly of benefit to the mental health of gay men, and that belonging to the gay community serves a protective function.

The direct and indirect effects of a sense of belonging to the general community indicate that feeling valued and a part of the broader community is also important for the mental health of Australian gay men. Yet, it is this community that harbours sexual prejudice. With almost half of Australia's population still believing that homosexuality is almost always wrong (Kelly, 2001), it would seem that facilitating a sense of belonging in the general community among gay men will be challenging. A reduction in sexual prejudice among the general population is clearly needed. This is worthwhile, as the results suggest that increasing belonging to the general community not only influences depression directly, but also facilitates belonging to the gay community.

The results and implications of this study need to be considered in the light of several limitations. The sole use of self-report measures and the non-random selection of participants are methodological issues of concern. It is to be noted, however, that conducting research with a minority group inevitably leads to sampling issues. If one is to obtain a sample large enough to conduct statistical analyses, then non-random sampling methods are needed. Further, although efforts to recruit men who were not a part of the gay social world were made, it is difficult to know just how successful these methods were. Recruiting gay men at gay social events and using snowball techniques may have resulted in men who are socially supported being over represented in the sample. It is likely these men would have a greater sense of belonging and better mental health than isolated gay men.

In summary, a sense of belonging to the gay community and a sense of belonging to the general community were both associated with lower levels of depression. Further, results suggested that belonging to the gay community may enhance levels of belonging in the general community, and belonging to the general community may increase belonging in the gay community. Interventions should focus on enhancing sense of belonging to both communities among gay men, with research evaluating the efficacy of such interventions. The results of this study suggest that enhancing a sense of belonging to the gay and general communities will benefit the mental health of gay men.

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SUZANNE MCLAREN, BELINDA JUDE, AND ANGUS J. MCLACHLAN

University of Ballarat, Australia

Suzanne McLaren, Belinda Jude, and Angus J. McLachlan, School of Behavioural & Social Sciences & Humanities, University of Ballarat.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Suzanne McLaren, School of Behavioural & Social Sciences & Humanities, University of Ballarat, University Drive, Mr. Helen Vic 3353, Australia. Electronic mail: [e-mail]

Table 1
Relationships between the Sense of Belonging Variables and
Depression, and Mean Scores and Standard Deviations

Variable                     1      2       3        M      SD

1. SoB - General Community   --   .52 *   -.59 *   53.32   11.59

2. SoB - Gay Community            --      -.48 *   53.48   11.13

3. Depression                             --        8.09    9.59

* p < .01.

Table 2
Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analysis for Sense of Belonging
General Community, Sense of Belonging Gay Community and the
Interaction between Sense of Belonging Gay Community x General
Community Predicting Depression

Variable                     B     SE B   [beta]       t

Step 1 [[R.sup.2] = .39, adjusted [R.sup.2] = .38,
    F(2, 134) = 42.65, p < .001]

  SoB--Gay Community       -0.01   0.00   -0.24    -3.03 **
  SoB--General Community   -0.02   0.00   -0.47    -5.87 ***

Step 2 [[DELTA][R.sup.2] = .01, adjusted [R.sup.2] = .39,
    F(1, 133) = 2.05, p > .05]

  SoB--Gay Community       -0.01   0.00   -0.21    -2.54 *
  SoB--General Community   -0.02   0.00   -0.49    -6.06 ***
  SoB--Gay Community
    x General Community     0.00   0.00    0.10     1.43

* p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001.

Table 3
Mediation Effect of Sense of Belonging-Gay Community on the
Sense of Belonging-General Community and Depression Relations,
and Mediation Effect of Sense of Belonging-General Community
on the Sense of Belonging-Gay Community and Depression Relations

                                                      [beta]

Mediation Effects by Sense of Belonging-Gay Community

Equation 1: Depression on   SoB--General Community   -.59 **
Equation 2: SoB--Gay
  Community on              SoB--General Community    .52 **
Equation 3: Depression on   SoB--General Community   -.47 **
                            SoB--Gay Community       -.24 *

Mediation Effects by Sense of Belonging-General Community

Equation 1: Depression on   SoB--Gay Community       -.48 **
Equation 2: SoB--General
  Community on              SoB--Gay Community        .52 **
Equation 3: Depression on   SoB--Gay Community       -.24 *
                            SoB--General Community   -.47 **

Note. The [beta] values are the standardized beta coefficients.

* p < .01. ** p < .001.