Are we leveling the playing field？ Trends and disparities in sports participation among sexual minority youth in Canada

Purpose: Sports participation and physical fitness are widely beneficial for young people, yet activity levels among young people are declining.Despite growing popular media attention on the participation of sexual minority(e.g., lesbian, gay, and bisexual) youth in sports and various campaigns to improve the often homophobic climate of sports, there is limited evidence that sexual minority youth participate in sports. Our aim was to provide a current portrait of sports participation among 3 groups of sexual minority youth(e.g., lesbian, gay, and bisexual) in British Columbia, Canada, as well as to document population trends.Methods: Pooled population-level data from British Columbia, Canada(n = 99,373) were used to examine trends and disparities in sports participation among sexual minority and heterosexual youth. Age-adjusted logistic regression models were used to examine changes in participation over time and disparities in participation over time(1998—2013).Results: We found an overall decline in sports participation and physical activity(PA) for all youth. Sexual minority students were less likely to participate in formal sports(with a coach) and informal sports(without a coach) compared with their heterosexual peers. The disparity in participating in informal sports between heterosexual and sexual minority youth has narrowed over time for some sexual orientation groups, whereas the disparity in participating in formal sports has widened over time in some cases.Conclusion: This study provides a comprehensive examination of sports participation among sexual minority youth over the past 15 years.Despite changing societal attitudes and laudable efforts to reduce homophobia in sports, results suggest that there are continued barriers to participation for sexual minority youth. Further research is needed to understand the factors that limit sports participation for these youth and to inform program development. PA is critical to lifelong health and well-being, and thus continued efforts are needed to increase the sports participation of sexual minority youth in particular.

The Hidden Sexual Minorities:Machine Learning Approaches to Estimate the Sexual Minority Orientation Among Beijing College Students

Based on the fourth-wave Beijing College Students Panel Survey(BCSPS),this study aims to provide accurate estimation of the percentage of the potential sexual minorities among the Beijing college students by using machine learning methods.Specifically,we employ random forest(RF),an ensemble learning approach for classification and regression,to predict the sexual orientation of those who were not willing to disclose his/her inherent sexual identity.To overcome the imbalance problem arising from far different numerical proportion of sexual minority and majority members,we adopt the repeated random sub-sampling for training set by partitioning those who expressed heterosexual orientation into different number of splits and further combining each split with those who expressed sexual minority orientation.The prediction from 24-split random forest suggests that youths in Beijing with sexual minority orientation amount to 5.71%,almost two times that of the original estimation 3.03%.The results are robust to alternative learning methods and covariate sets.Besides,it is also suggested that random forest outperforms other learning algorithms,including AdaBoost,Naïve Bayes,support vector machine(SVM),and logistic regression,in dealing with missing data,by showing higher accuracy,F1 score,and area under curve(AUC)value.

A Commentary of the Queer People of Color Identity Affirmation Scale for Positive Attitudes

Sexual minority(SM)is gradually becoming more visible as a more open and diversity society.SM mainly includes lesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender,asexual and so on.According to SM stress theory,SM people,populations at risk,have poor mental and physical health under a long-term acute or chronic stress and pressure due to prejudice and discrimination[1].In America,among young SM,minority stress,negative psychology,substance use,and human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)risk influence each other to damage psychosomatic health[2].With an increase in SM stress,participation in health-promoting activities decreased and problems with physical health increased[3].

The relationship between acceptance of illness and quality of life among men who have sex with men living with human immunodeficiency virus:A cross-sectional study

Objectives To explore the relationship between acceptance of illness and quality of life(QOL),and factors associated with acceptance of illness among men who have sex with men(MSM)living with human immunodeficiency virus(HIV).Methods Three hundred and one MSM were recruited from an HIV clinic between August and December 2018.The battery of measurements consisted of the Acceptance of Illness Scale,World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire for HIV brief version,HIV Cognitive Appraisal Scale and a self-designed questionnaire used to collect general information.Pearson correlation test was used to examine the relationship between acceptance of illness and QOL.Univariate and multivariate ordinal logistic regression analyses were used to examine whether the general data(demographic and HIV-related clinical data)and HIV cognitive appraisal were associated with acceptance of illness levels.Results Descriptive analysis showed the acceptance level among MSM living with HIV was moderate(Mean=26.29,SD=5.28).Those with a better acceptance of illness had a better QOL(r=0.69,P<0.01).In the multivariate ordinal logistic regression model,education level,threat appraisals(OR:1.09;95%CI[1.06–1.13]),and controllability appraisals(OR:0.82;95%CI[0.71–0.94])were significantly associated with acceptance of illness.Conclusions Results showed acceptance level was moderate and had a positive correlation with QOL.High level of education,low threat appraisals and high controllability appraisals were related to high illness acceptance.This finding highlights the importance of focusing on HIV-infected MSM with low education and on their perceptions of threat and controllability about HIV-related issues when designing interventions to promote illness acceptance in this vulnerable population.

Factors Related to LGBT Recognition for University Students and Employed Adults

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate Japanese students and employed adults’ characteristic features, and sexual situation, and to find the correlated factors of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) recognition in order to obtain suggestions for improved relationships with sexual minorities in a diversifying society. Methods: This quantitative cross-sectional descriptive correlational study occurred during 2018 to 2019 when 2210 questionnaires were distributed to a purposive sample of eligible participants. A total of 1534 completed questionnaires (69.4%) were returned, of which 1439 (65.1%) were suitable for analyses. The survey included respondents’ 1) characteristics, 2) sexual situation, and 3) LGBT recognition scale. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, factor analysis, reliability analysis, and structural equation modeling. SPSS ver. 26.0 (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA) was used for data analysis at a 5% significance level. Results: The LGBT recognition score was significantly affected by suffering from gender identity (standardized partial regression coefficient: β = 0.17, p < 0.001), age (β = −0.19, p < 0.001), learning about LGBT experience (β = 0.29, p < 0.001), experience of disclosure from LGBT person (β = 0.14, p < 0.001), sexual problems with intimate relationship (β = 0.07, p < 0.001), and diversity penetration (β = 0.14, p < 0.05). Conclusions: Suffering from gender identity, learning about LGBT experience, experience of disclosure from LGBT person, sexual problem with intimate relationship, and diversity penetration had a positive effect, whereas age had negative effects on the LGBT recognition score.

Identity,stigma,and HIV risk among transgender women:a qualitative study in Jiangsu Province,China

Background:Transgender women have multiple disparities globally,including social rejection and stigma,HIV infection and untreated mental health problems.However,few data on transgender women are available in China.Therefore,this study aimed to explore transgender women's experiences on gender identity,disclosure,discrimination,transgender-specific medical care,and perceptions of HIV and sexually transmitted infections(STI)risk in China.Methods:A qualitative study was conducted in Nanjing and Suzhou city,China in 2018.Key informant interviews(n=14)and focus group discussions(n=2)with diverse transgender women were implemented.Text was transcribed and translated,and Dedoose™software was used for coding,analysis and interpretation by the research team.Results:Chinese transgender women share experiences with transgender women worldwide,including a long and challenging identity search,stigma and discrimination,poor access to trans-specific services and unmet needs for mental health care.Features unique to them include terms used for self-identification,culturally-shaped expectations for reproduction,and ideals of placing the familial and societal welfare over personal fulfillment.Social networks of this population appear sparse,scattered,and underground.Familial rejection was experienced by nearly all respondents.Perceptions of HIV and STI risk and history of HIV testing were notably low.Conclusions:Transgender women in China face high social rejection and discrimination along with unmet need for various types of healthcare.Scaling up transgender-specific services including gender-affirming medical care,mental health care and HIV/STI prevention are warranted to address the social,medical and mental health of transgender women in China.