The influence of outing violence, mental health, financial strain, COVID-19 symptoms, and unsafe home isolation on healthcare disruption for LGBTQ+ adults

The current study examines the impact of healthcare disruption for a sample of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and other emerging identities (LGBTQ+) adults. This research focuses on health, financial well-being, and intimate partner violence (IPV), specifically outing victimization and isolation in an unsafe home during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesized that outing victimization, mental health, financial strain, job loss, COVID-19 symptoms, and unsafe home isolation would be positively related to increased healthcare disruption (gender affirming care, mental health care, and other medication services). Respondents (N = 1249) were 18+ years old, identified as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and resided in the U.S. All types of increased healthcare disruption (gender affirming care, mental health care, and medication services) were significantly associated with mental health, financial strain, COVID-19 symptoms, and unsafe home isolation. Both outing victimization and job loss were significantly associated with increased healthcare disruption. Results identify the increased barrier to medical services for LGBTQ+ adults and highlight the increased need for access to IPV prevention resources, especially as identity-specific violence is related to increased medical service disruption.