Abstract
Mental health within the LGBT+ community is shaped by factors that are not only limited to the ways in which LGBT+ individuals personally experience life; mental health is also shaped by community connectedness to the LGBT+ community, as well as the community at large. Using Wave 1 of the Generations: A Study of the Life and Health of LGB People in a Changing Society 2016-2019 dataset (N=1500), this thesis examines the association between mental health and community connectedness—measured as LGBT+ community connectedness and connectedness to the community at large—among LGBT+ individuals. Less poor mental health days was associated with more of a sense of belonging to the community at large and LGBT+ community; less connectedness to the community at large was associated with more suicidal thoughts; more connectedness to the LGBT+ community was also associated with more suicidal thoughts; and more feelings of stigmatization were associated with more poor mental health days. These findings suggest that intentional strengthening of community connectedness to the LGBT+ community and community at large may be associated with better mental health—including less suicidal thoughts and less feelings of stigmatization.