The Impact of Emotional Symptoms and Family Support on the Association Between Homophobic Bullying and Sedative/Hypnotic Use among Gay and Bisexual Men in Taiwan: A Moderated Mediation Model

Dian-Jeng Li, Yu-Ping Chang, Yi-Lung Chen and Cheng-Fang Yen
Additional contact information
Dian-Jeng Li: Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, 100 Tzyou 1st Road, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan
Yu-Ping Chang: School of Nursing, The State University of New York, University at Buffalo, 12 Capen Hall, Buffalo, New York, NY 14260-1660, USA
Yi-Lung Chen: Department of Healthcare Administration, Asia University, 500, Liufeng Road Wufeng District, Taichung 41354, Taiwan
Cheng-Fang Yen: Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, 100 Tzyou 1st Road, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 11, 1-11

Abstract: Sedative/hypnotic use and homophobic bullying have become a big mental health concern for gay and bisexual men. However, few studies have investigated the mediators and moderators of the association between them. The current study aimed to build a conceptual model to estimate the mediating effect of emotional symptoms and the moderating effect of family support on this association among gay and bisexual men in Taiwan. A total of 500 gay or bisexual men were recruited for the study. Their history of homophobic bullying, their experience of sedative/hypnotic use, their perceived family support, and their current emotional symptoms were evaluated using self-reporting questionnaires. A moderated mediation model was developed to test the mediating effect of emotional symptoms and the moderating effect of family support. A higher level of homophobic bullying was significantly associated with sedative/hypnotic use among gay and bisexual men and this was mediated by a higher severity of emotional symptoms. A moderating effect of family support was identified, wherein the mediating effect of emotional symptoms was weaker when there was a higher level of perceived family support, thus revealing the protective effect of family support. The significant impact of emotional symptoms and family support on the association between homophobic bullying and sedative/hypnotic use was identified. Timely interventions for emotional symptoms and the enhancement of family support are crucial for gay and bisexual men.

Keywords: sexual minority; sedative/hypnotic; family support; emotional symptoms; homophobic bullying (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/3870/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/11/3870/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:11:p:3870-:d:364723

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().