Buket Kara, Defne Güzel, Semih Özkarakaş, Doğa Eroğlu-Şah, Umut Şah
Co-produced by LGBTIQ+ activists and academic researchers, this study gave voice to an understudied LGBTIQ+ community in Turkey to narrate their lived experiences and examined their exposure to discrimination in various areas of their lives in relation to their mental health. The study utilized a mixed-method design, where 61 individuals who identified as LGBTIQ+, aged 18–47, responded to an online survey. The quantitative tools included questionnaires assessing mental well-being, psychological symptoms, resilience, and perceived discrimination. Qualitatively, participants responded to open-ended questions regarding their lived experiences, such as coming out, access to healthcare, and self-care practices. Participants were frequently exposed to various forms of discrimination, which were associated with lower mental well-being and higher psychological symptoms. However, personal resilience factors lowered or diminished the negative role of discrimination on mental health. Identity-based lived experiences and practices further provided an in-depth picture of life of LGBTIQ+ individuals in this community and how they overcome adversity.
{"title":"“I Am Very Happy That We Are Such Beautiful People”: Lived Experiences, Perceived Discrimination, and Mental Health in an LGBTIQ+ Community in Turkey","authors":"Buket Kara, Defne Güzel, Semih Özkarakaş, Doğa Eroğlu-Şah, Umut Şah","doi":"10.1002/jcop.70087","DOIUrl":"10.1002/jcop.70087","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Co-produced by LGBTIQ+ activists and academic researchers, this study gave voice to an understudied LGBTIQ+ community in Turkey to narrate their lived experiences and examined their exposure to discrimination in various areas of their lives in relation to their mental health. The study utilized a mixed-method design, where 61 individuals who identified as LGBTIQ+, aged 18–47, responded to an online survey. The quantitative tools included questionnaires assessing mental well-being, psychological symptoms, resilience, and perceived discrimination. Qualitatively, participants responded to open-ended questions regarding their lived experiences, such as coming out, access to healthcare, and self-care practices. Participants were frequently exposed to various forms of discrimination, which were associated with lower mental well-being and higher psychological symptoms. However, personal resilience factors lowered or diminished the negative role of discrimination on mental health. Identity-based lived experiences and practices further provided an in-depth picture of life of LGBTIQ+ individuals in this community and how they overcome adversity.</p>","PeriodicalId":15496,"journal":{"name":"Journal of community psychology","volume":"54 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jcop.70087","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146131950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}