The Language of LGBTQ+ Minority Stress Experiences on Social Media.

Journal: Proceedings of the ACM on human-computer interaction
Published Date: Nov 1, 2019

Abstract

LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) individuals are at significantly higher risk for mental health challenges than the general population. Social media and online communities provide avenues for LGBTQ+ individuals to have safe, candid, semi-anonymous discussions about their struggles and experiences. We study through the language of disclosures and self-experiences on the r/lgbt Reddit community. Drawing on Meyer's minority stress theory, and adopting a combined qualitative and computational approach, we make three primary contributions, 1) a theoretically grounded to identify minority stressors across three types of minority stress-, and , 2) a to scalably identify social media posts describing minority stress experiences, that achieves an AUC of 0.80, and 3) a of linguistic markers, along with their contextualization in the minority stress theory. Our results bear implications to influence public health policy and contribute to improving knowledge relating to the mental health disparities of LGBTQ+ populations. We also discuss the potential of our approach to enable designing online tools sensitive to the needs of LGBTQ+ individuals.

Authors

  • Koustuv Saha
    Georgia Institute of Technology, USA.
  • Sang Chan Kim
    Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
  • Manikanta D Reddy
    Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
  • Albert J Carter
    University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
  • Eva Sharma
    Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
  • Oliver L Haimson
    University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
  • Munmun DE Choudhury
    Georgia Institute of Technology, USA.

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