Community (dis)connectedness and identity among LGBTQIA+ people during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative cross-sectional and longitudinal trajectory study

ABSTRACT

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and associated shelter-in-place ordinances rapidly limited access to in-person social interactions, raising concerns of diminishing social support and community cohesion while psychological stressors increased. For LGBTQIA+ people, connectedness to the LGBTQIA+ community buffers against the harmful effects of stressors and decreases risks for poor psychological and behavioural health outcomes. The current study uses qualitative cross-sectional (between-person) and trajectory (within-person) analysis methods to characterise how LGBTQIA+ people’s perceptions of community connectedness shifted during the first year of the pandemic. A convenience sample of LGBTQIA+ people in the U.S. completed an initial online survey in September 2020 (n = 298 and a follow-up survey in September 2021; n = 129). The survey included questions about changes in connectedness to the LGBTQIA+ community since the pandemic’s beginning. Eight cross-cutting themes (related to identity shifts/exploration, disconnection, online connections, and increased awareness of social justice issues) were identified and then organised within each level of the LGBTQIA+ Social-Ecological Model (i.e. the individual-, couple-, interpersonal-, organisational-, community-, and chronosystem- level). Given the importance of social support for LGBTQIA+ wellbeing, more longitudinal research is needed to determine whether these changes persist after the resolution of the acute phase of the pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• LGBTQ
• community connection
• qualitative
• COVID-19 pandemic
• longitudinal

Acknowledgments

Dr. Veldhuis’ work on this manuscript was supported by an NIH/NIAAA Pathway to Independence K99/R00 Award (K99AA028049; R00AA028049). Dr. Soled’s work on this manuscript was partially supported by an NIH/NIMHD Award (R01MD015256). Aaron Hill’s work on this manuscript was supported by the UC Berkeley Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (URAP). Angie Wootton’s work on this manuscript was supported by an NIH/NIAAA T32 Predoctoral fellowship (T32 AA007240).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [K99AA028049; R00AA028049].