2SLGBTQ Recreational Sport Participation, Social Support, Community Connection and Mental Health for Younger and Older 2SLGBTQ Adults

Background and Purpose: Community sport participation is increasingly recognized as a strategy to support adults’ healthy aging. However, without approaches that account for the harassment and marginalization that many Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (2SLGBTQ) people experience in sport, especially as youth, this strategy may inadvertently compound existing health disparities. Despite ongoing exclusion from many mainstream sports spaces, 2SLGBTQ people in Canada have created their own 2SLGBTQ community sports teams and leagues for over 50 years. These community-based sports may foster connection to the broader 2SLGBTQ community and support mental health.

Methods: Our study analyzed data from the 2022 Our Health survey, a cross-sectional, Canada-wide community health survey of 2SLGBTQ people aged 15 or older (N=4,037), offered in French, English and Spanish. Participants were recruited through social media, in-person at Pride festivals across Canada, and through networks of partnered community agencies and social service providers. We examined the associations between 2SLGBTQ-specific community sport participation and mental health, 2SLGBTQ community connection, and social support using a series of binary logistic regression analyses. To assess whether age modified these relationships, we tested an interaction term using dichotomized age variable: “younger” (≤29 years) and “older” (≥30 years). Financial strain was identified as a potential confounder and was controlled for using a multivariable logistic regression.

Results: Participants of 2SLGBTQ community sport (n=290/3180, 9.1%) reported similar levels of anxiety and depression as non-participants (n=2890/3180, 90.9%). However, sport participants reported significantly higher 2SLGBTQ community connection and social support in comparison to their peers who did not participate. Specifically, 2SLGBTQ community sport participants were more likely to report receiving support from other 2SLGBTQ people during the COVID-10 pandemic, were more likely to report feeling “somewhat/very” connected to the 2SLGBTQ community and were more likely to feel that their connection was the same or better following the COVID-19 pandemic. These associations held for younger and older 2SLGBTQ participants and after controlling for financial strain.

Conclusions and Implications: Despite ongoing marginalization of 2SLGBTQ people in sports, 2SLGBTQ community sport participation offer important opportunities to address loneliness and support the mental health of 2SLGBTQ people across the life course. Our findings have implications for social work practice with 2SLGBTQ populations, as well as for policies that support the development and sustainability of 2SLGBTQ community sport spaces. Ongoing education for service providers on the health benefit of 2SLGBTQ community sport is needed to support the mental health of 2SLGBTQ people across the life course, address social isolation and improve community connection. Future intersectional research is needed to better understand how the impacts of 2SLGBTQ community sport participation may vary across diverse subgroups within 2SLGBTQ communities