Depressive symptoms, perceived social support and their correlation among adolescent lesbians

  Objective  To examine the prevalence of depression symptoms and its association with perceived social support among adolescent lesbians for providing references to depression prevention in the population.

  Methods  Totally 160 lesbians aged 15 – 25 years were recruited with the help of Beijing Lespark (a lesbian organization) for an online anonymous survey conducted during July – December 2018. The Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10), Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS) and a self-designed questionnaire were completed by the participants via Sojump platform.

  Results  More a than half (56.9%) of the participants reported depressive symptoms. The participants′ mean score for overall social support was 58.25 ± 13.39 and the mean score for family, friend, and other people support were 17.96 ± 5.64, 20.64 ± 4.86, and 19.65 ± 5.28, respectively; 45.6% of the participants reported a high level of perceived social support. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the perceived overall social support was significantly related to a decreased risk of depressive symptoms (odds ratio = 0.930, 95% confidence interval: 0.898 – 0.964).

  Conclusion  Depressive symptoms are common and the prevalence of depressive symptoms is associated with perceived social support among adolescent lesbians.