Study About Internalized Homophobia Among Chinese Homosexual Community

Objective and Significance of the StudyIn view of the lack of research on internalized homophobia and its relationship with metal health status and willingness seeking for psychological help in China and abroad,especially in China,this study revised the scale of internalized homophobia of homosexual community,investigate the status of internalized homophobia in Chinese homosexuals and its relationship with mental health status and willingness seeking for psychological help,deepen the understanding of the social and cultural background with Chinese characteristics on this relationship.MethodsIn this study（1）In view of the shortcomings of previous studies,the survey tools for internalized homophobia in previous studies were sorted out,and the tool that is simple and easy to promote was selected for revision by testing on 201 homosexual participants.Items of scale were verified and determined by item analysis.The final version of the scale was determined after confirmatory factor analysis and reliability and validity test.（2）Using self-compiled general information questionnaire,Revised Internalized Homophobia Scale₉ Item（Revised IHP-9）State/Trait Questionnaire（STAI）,Self-rating Depression Scale（SDS）,The Satisfaction With Life Scale（SWLS）etc.,mental health related scales and Inventory of Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Services（IASMHS）combined the revision of internalized homophobia scale investigated the internalized homophobia,mental health states and seeking for help behavior of Chinese homosexual community in a large range and analyzed the influence of internalized homophobia on mental health and psychological help seeking behavior among Chinese homosexual community;（3）Through the qualitative research of in-depth interviews and theme analysis,this study aimed to supplement and deepen the results of previous qualitative research,and explored how the factors with Chinese social and cultural characteristics of Chinese homosexual community affect their internalized homophobia and it’s impact on mental health and willingness of seeking for psychological help,which cannot be revealed in the data analysis.The main results of this study are as follows:（1）The internal consistency reliability coefficient of the revised internalized homophobia scale was 0.855,and the split reliability coefficient was 0.902.The structural validity,criterion validity and empirical validity were good,which could effectively evaluate the internalized homophobia of individuals.（2）The scores of internalized homophobia in Chinese homosexuals were 16.39±6.61,among which the scores of gay and lesbians were 17.47±7.15 and 14.44±4.97,respectively.The internalized homophobia in Chinese homosexuals was significantly higher than that in foreign homosexuals（t=3.055,P=0.002）.The score of internalized homophobia in Chinese heterosexual population was 22.99±7.97,which was significantly higher than that in homosexual population（t=-14.553,P<0.001）.（3）Gays had higher internalized homophobia than lesbians（t=5.648,P<0.001）,homosexuals from non-single-child family had higher internalized homophobia than homosexuals from single-child family（t=1.98,P=0.048）,and the group with late recognition of sexual orientation（post-middle school group）was higher than the group with early recognition of sexual orientation（pre-middle school group）（t=-2.406,P=0.017）.There was no difference in internalized homophobia among homosexuals of different places of birth,number of partners,family structure and individual ranking in the family（ALL P>0.05）.（4）Internalized homophobia was negatively correlated with life satisfaction（r=-0.253,P<0.001）,and positively correlated with depression,state anxiety trait anxiety and suicidal risk（r=0.205,0.216,0.240,0.137,P<0.001）.It was negatively correlated with the total score of psychological help-seeking scale,score of openness dimension,score of help-seeking tendency dimension and score of stigmatization dimension（r=-0.376,-0.302,-0.166,-0.388,P<0.001）.（5）The internalized homophobia of homosexuals not only directly affects their psychological help-seeking behavior,but also mediates their help-seeking behavior through life satisfaction,depression,state anxiety,trait anxiety and suicidal risk Adjust action analysis found that in the relationship between internalized homophobia and help-seeking in the homosexual community,the mediating effects of depression,state anxiety,trait anxiety and suicidal riskwere found in homosexuals with different genders,different recognition time of sexual orientation and whether they were from single-child family or not,and there was no statistically significant difference（P>0.05）.Compared with men,life satisfaction of lesbians has a stronger mediating effect on internalized homophobia and help seeking behavior.（6）In the context of Chinese traditional culture,the family background,the degree of agreement with traditional gender stereotype,quality of their partnership and social experience will affect their intensity of internalized homophobia and their attitude toward work and life in society.ConclusionRevised internalized homophobia scale has good reliability and validity.Through the use of the revised scale,this study found that the degree of internalized homophobia in Chinese homosexual community is slightly higher than that in foreign homosexual community,and affects their mental health status and willingness searching for psychological help,gender differences has an impact on them.Through qualitative research found that social and cultural background factors with Chinese characteristics,such as traditional gender stereotype and family etc.have and important impact on internalized homophobia.On this basis,this study puts forward a model of mental health and psychological help seeking of homosexual community with Chinese characteristics.