Exploring the Mental Health Challenges and Coping Behaviour of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Students at an Institution of Higher Learning

Gsakani Olivia Sumbane () and Nogwane Maureen Makua
Additional contact information
Gsakani Olivia Sumbane: Faculty of Health Science, School of Medicine, University of Limpopo, Private Bag X 1106, Sovenga 0727, South Africa
Nogwane Maureen Makua: Faculty of Health Science, School of Medicine, University of Limpopo, Private Bag X 1106, Sovenga 0727, South Africa

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-14

Abstract: The South African university community is predominantly heterosexual, which fosters stigmatisation and discrimination against LGBTQI students despite the efforts to create conditions where LGBTQI students can succeed academically, socially, and personally. The study aimed to explore and describe the challenges experienced by LGBTQI students and their mental well-being as well as the coping behaviours adopted in a university in South Africa. This was accomplished using a descriptive phenomenological approach. A snowballing sampling method was used to select ten students who identified themselves as gay, lesbian, and bisexual (LGB). Semi-structured one-on-one interviews were conducted, and data were analysed thematically. The students perceived character defects stigma from fellow students and lecturers in and out of class. The mental health challenges experienced included a diminished sense of safety, lack of a sense of belonging, low self-esteem, and acting out of character. As a result, confrontation, passive withdrawal, and active dependent behaviour were utilised as different types of coping behaviour. The LGB students were subjected to stigma that negatively affected their mental health. Therefore, creating awareness about the rights of LGBTQI students to education, safety, and self-determination is recommended.

Keywords: lesbians; gays; bisexuals; mental health; coping behaviour (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/4420/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/5/4420/ (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:20:y:2023:i:5:p:4420-:d:1085047

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 ().