Mental disorders, quality of life and identity in middle-age and older homosexual adults

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In our society subjects with homosexual orientation have been strongly exposed to attitudes of discrimination and prejudice. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mental health, life quality and psychosocial identity dimensions in subjects with homosexual orientation in the maturity and old age. METHOD: The subjects were identified by using the snowball strategy quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized with the following tools: MINI Plus, WHOQOL-bref, and semi structured interviews through psychosocial identity inventory. Forty subjects with homosexual orientation (study group) were interviewed, comparing them to 40 subjects with heterosexual orientation (contrast group), in pairs of individuals by gender, age, education and social class. RESULTS: A larger frequency of mental disruption was verified in the study group, 15 (37,5%) cases, in comparison to the contrast group, eight (20%) cases. The risk of suicide was present in three (7,5%) individuals of the study group. Of the individuals who presented some mental disruption in the study group, 11 (73,3%) did not reveal the homosexual orientation in significant social areas of their lives (p = 0,00001). The subjects with homosexual orientation presented better life quality in the social domain in comparison to the subjects with heterosexual orientation. DISCUSSION: The homosexual subjects of this research in the maturity and old age showed more frequency of mental disruption, although a better life quality. It is possible that internalized homophobia may be associated with psychosocial difficulties. Thus, the study may suggest that the act of not revealing the homosexuality and the effort across the life course to hide it has strong association with the presence of mental disruption.