Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jul 16;55(1):32-46.
doi: 10.1080/03036758.2023.2235297. eCollection 2025.

'Is it worth potentially dealing with someone who won't get it?': LGBTQA+ university students' perspectives on mental health care

Claudia Garcia  1 , Eddy Grant  1 , Gareth J Treharne  1 , Hitaua Arahanga-Doyle  1 , Mathijs F G Lucassen  2   3 , Damian Scarf  1 , Mele Taumoepeau  4 , Jaimie Veale  5 , Charlene Rapsey  6
Affiliations

'Is it worth potentially dealing with someone who won't get it?': LGBTQA+ university students' perspectives on mental health care

Claudia Garcia et al. J R Soc N Z. .

Abstract

LGBTQA+ university students have unique mental health needs and high rates of mental distress compared to their cisgender heterosexual peers; however, it is likely that many LGBTQA+ individuals remain untreated or receive inappropriate or insensitive care. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences and preferences in mental health care of LGBTQA+ university students in Aotearoa New Zealand. Twenty-eight young adults participated across 12 focus groups or interviews in which they were asked about their experiences and preferences. We used thematic analysis to identify patterns of meaning in the data. Researchers developed three themes of I can do this on my own, but others should seek help; you have to be lucky to access mental health care; and 'therapists just need to be a bit more like up with the programme'. The results of this study mirror those found in more general studies of LGBTQA+ mental healthcare experiences, however, also adds to considerations for university campus healthcare services. The findings of this study should be considered by all mental health providers working with LGBTQA+ young adult university students.

Keywords: LGBT; Mental health care; education; healthcare; qualitative; queer; student.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Allen L, Cowie L, Fenaughty J.. 2020. Safe but not safe: LGBTTIQA+ students’ experiences of a university campus. Higher Education Research & Development. 39(6):1075–1090. doi:10.1080/07294360.2019.1706453. - DOI
    1. Auerbach RP, Alonso J, Axinn WG, Cuijpers P, Ebert DD, Green JG, Hwang I, Kessler RC, Liu H, Mortier P, et al. . 2016. Mental disorders among college students in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys. Psychological Medicine. 46(14):2955–2970. doi:10.1017/S0033291716001665. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baams L, De Luca SM, Brownson C.. 2018. Use of mental health services among college students by sexual orientation. LGBT Health. 5(7):421–430. doi:10.1089/lgbt.2017.0225. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baldwin A, Dodge B, Schick VR, Light B, Schnarrs PW, Herbenick D, Fortenberry JD.. 2018. Transgender and genderqueer individuals’ experiences with health care providers: what’s working, what’s not, and where do we go from here? Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. 29(4):1300–1318. doi:10.1353/hpu.2018.0097. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bartholomew TT, Gundel BE, Sullivan JW, Pérez-Rojas AE, Lockard AJ.. 2019. Pretreatment counseling experiences, stressors, and support differences between transgender and cisgender university students seeking mental healthcare. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 75(6):933–957. doi:10.1002/jclp.22742. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources