The Impact of COVID-19 on the Well-Being of the Italian LGBTQIA+ Community

Numerous studies on the effects that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the LGBTQIAþ community reported how this population has been likely to experience worsened mental health conditions because of the pandemic and the subsequent restrictions (Gato et al., 2021). In this context, the present study aimed at exploring how the different restrictive measures taken by the Italian government affected LGBTQIAþ Italian people. Italy was one of the first western countries to be hit by the pandemic in late February 2020; consequently, the Italian population was forced to observe strict lockdown and house confinement from February to June 2020. Participants (18–40 y; N ¼ 562) were recruited via an online survey in two phases, respectively, from 25th April 2020 to 31st July 2020 and from 1st December 2020 to 24th April 2021. Depression, anxiety and stress symptoms were detected through the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales 21-Item Version (DASS-21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995; Bottesi et al., 2015); the psychosocial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were also measured (Gato et al., 2020). The results indicated that the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals’ daily routine and an adverse family climate were associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress, with family climate partially playing a mediator role between the pandemic’s impact on individuals and the symptoms reported above. Moreover, being a transgender or non-binary person represented a risk factor for depression, whereas younger participants experienced higher symptoms of anxiety and stress. Results show how family climate constitutes an important element in adaptation to psychosocial and well-being issues. Furthermore, transgender and nonbinary people should have access to specialized care services, especially in extraordinary circumstances such as a global pandemic, since this population appears to be more likely to experience worse mental health outcomes than cis-gender people.