The are many well-documented disparities among LGBTQ+ individuals and a rising concern about mental health in higher education, as LGBTQ+ graduate students may face unique and specific vulnerabilities in relation to their overall health compared to their peers. Part of what might be driving the mental health crisis among LGBTQ+ graduate students are poorer lifestyle factors. There is limited research that examines the impact of health-related lifestyle factors on mental health among LGBTQ+ graduate students, exacerbating our lack of insight into specific problems that may affect LGBTQ+ individuals’ mental health. As such, the present study examined mental health in LGBTQ+ graduate students, if there are disparities in rates of engagement and participation in select lifestyle factors, and whether certain lifestyle factors may be especially harmful/ hurtful for this population. This project utilized pre-collected data collected from the Fall of 2019 as part of the American College Health Association’s National Health Assessment (NCHA) totaling 7,702 graduate students Mage= 28.4) who self-reported engagement in various health related lifestyle factors. As expected, LGBTQ+ graduate students reported greater psychological distress (d = .49, 95% CI [.42, .56]) and generally worse lifestyle factor profiles compared to sexual and gender majority graduate students. Further, sleep distress was the strongest predictor of psychological distress in LGBTQ+ graduate students (β = -.39, 95% CI [-.45, -.32]); however, LGBTQ+ identity did not moderate the relationship between select lifestyle factors and psychological distress. These findings have important implications for policies and interventions to improve mental health and decrease suffering in LGBTQ+ graduate students.
","abstract_html":"<p>The are many well-documented disparities among LGBTQ+ individuals and a rising concern about mental health in higher education, as LGBTQ+ graduate students may face unique and specific vulnerabilities in relation to their overall health compared to their peers. Part of what might be driving the mental health crisis among LGBTQ+ graduate students are poorer lifestyle factors. There is limited research that examines the impact of health-related lifestyle factors on mental health among LGBTQ+ graduate students, exacerbating our lack of insight into specific problems that may affect LGBTQ+ individuals’ mental health. As such, the present study examined mental health in LGBTQ+ graduate students, if there are disparities in rates of engagement and participation in select lifestyle factors, and whether certain lifestyle factors may be especially harmful/ hurtful for this population. This project utilized pre-collected data collected from the Fall of 2019 as part of the American College Health Association’s National Health Assessment (NCHA) totaling 7,702 graduate students M<sub>age</sub>= 28.4) who self-reported engagement in various health related lifestyle factors. As expected, LGBTQ+ graduate students reported greater psychological distress (<em>d = .49, 95% CI [.42, .56]) </em>and generally worse lifestyle factor profiles compared to sexual and gender majority graduate students. Further, sleep distress was the strongest predictor of psychological distress in LGBTQ+ graduate students (β = -.39, 95% CI [-.45, -.32]); however, LGBTQ+ identity did not moderate the relationship between select lifestyle factors and psychological distress. These findings have important implications for policies and interventions to improve mental health and decrease suffering in LGBTQ+ graduate students.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ostermiller, Lindsey"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Masters Thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Austen Anderson","Craig Warlick","Eric Dahlen"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:47Z","subjects":["LGBTQ+","Lifestyle","Mental Health","Graduate Students","Counseling Psychology","Health Psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1014","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Austen Anderson","Craig Warlick","Eric Dahlen"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Ostermiller, Lindsey"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-09-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["LGBTQ+","Lifestyle","Mental Health","Graduate Students","Counseling Psychology","Health Psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1014"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The are many well-documented disparities among LGBTQ+ individuals and a rising concern about mental health in higher education, as LGBTQ+ graduate students may face unique and specific vulnerabilities in relation to their overall health compared to their peers. Part of what might be driving the mental health crisis among LGBTQ+ graduate students are poorer lifestyle factors. There is limited research that examines the impact of health-related lifestyle factors on mental health among LGBTQ+ graduate students, exacerbating our lack of insight into specific problems that may affect LGBTQ+ individuals’ mental health. As such, the present study examined mental health in LGBTQ+ graduate students, if there are disparities in rates of engagement and participation in select lifestyle factors, and whether certain lifestyle factors may be especially harmful/ hurtful for this population. This project utilized pre-collected data collected from the Fall of 2019 as part of the American College Health Association’s National Health Assessment (NCHA) totaling 7,702 graduate students Mage= 28.4) who self-reported engagement in various health related lifestyle factors. As expected, LGBTQ+ graduate students reported greater psychological distress (d = .49, 95% CI [.42, .56]) and generally worse lifestyle factor profiles compared to sexual and gender majority graduate students. Further, sleep distress was the strongest predictor of psychological distress in LGBTQ+ graduate students (β = -.39, 95% CI [-.45, -.32]); however, LGBTQ+ identity did not moderate the relationship between select lifestyle factors and psychological distress. These findings have important implications for policies and interventions to improve mental health and decrease suffering in LGBTQ+ graduate students.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The mental health of LGBTQ+ graduate students: Examining the role of lifestyle factors"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Austen Anderson","Craig Warlick","Eric Dahlen"],"dc:creator":["Ostermiller, Lindsey"],"dc:date.available":["2024-09-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The are many well-documented disparities among LGBTQ+ individuals and a rising concern about mental health in higher education, as LGBTQ+ graduate students may face unique and specific vulnerabilities in relation to their overall health compared to their peers. Part of what might be driving the mental health crisis among LGBTQ+ graduate students are poorer lifestyle factors. There is limited research that examines the impact of health-related lifestyle factors on mental health among LGBTQ+ graduate students, exacerbating our lack of insight into specific problems that may affect LGBTQ+ individuals’ mental health. As such, the present study examined mental health in LGBTQ+ graduate students, if there are disparities in rates of engagement and participation in select lifestyle factors, and whether certain lifestyle factors may be especially harmful/ hurtful for this population. This project utilized pre-collected data collected from the Fall of 2019 as part of the American College Health Association’s National Health Assessment (NCHA) totaling 7,702 graduate students Mage= 28.4) who self-reported engagement in various health related lifestyle factors. As expected, LGBTQ+ graduate students reported greater psychological distress (d = .49, 95% CI [.42, .56]) and generally worse lifestyle factor profiles compared to sexual and gender majority graduate students. Further, sleep distress was the strongest predictor of psychological distress in LGBTQ+ graduate students (β = -.39, 95% CI [-.45, -.32]); however, LGBTQ+ identity did not moderate the relationship between select lifestyle factors and psychological distress. These findings have important implications for policies and interventions to improve mental health and decrease suffering in LGBTQ+ graduate students.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1014"],"dc:subject":["LGBTQ+","Lifestyle","Mental Health","Graduate Students","Counseling Psychology","Health Psychology"],"dc:title":["The mental health of LGBTQ+ graduate students: Examining the role of lifestyle factors"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:45:47Z"}