Social Determinants of Sexual and Gender Minority Mental Health

Purpose: Sexual and gender minority individuals (SGM; e.g., people who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender) have known disparities in mental health outcomes compared to cisgender (i.e., non-transgender) and heterosexual people including higher rates of depression, anxiety, substance use, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. These disparities can be attributed to greater social and economic obstacles to health, generally known as social determinants of health and often operationalized for SGM individuals as minority stressors. This review aims to describe recent reviews and key studies on social determinants of health and the known associations with mental health outcomes among SGM individuals. We categorize social determinants according to the framework proposed by Healthy People 2030: neighborhood and built environment, health and health care, social and community context, education, and economic stability. Recent findings: Much of the recent literature has examined how the social and community context contributes to mental health outcomes for SGM people, especially the effects of discrimination and other minority stress. Summary: Social determinants of health such as the neighborhood and built environment, health and health care, education, and economic stability require additional research. However, the categories of social determinants of health are overlapping and interrelated, with discrimination and other minority stressors strongly influencing the experiences of SGM individuals within neighborhood, health care, educational, and economic settings. Implications for the integration of social care and medical care are discussed.