Links between social safety and health among sexual and gender minorities

项目概要/摘要（30行） SGM个体（LGBTQ+）面临着显着的心理和身体健康差异，但生物行为 造成这些差异的机制尚未完全了解。这项研究测试了一种新的理论 模型（Diamond & Alley，2022）认为，社会安全不足通过促进慢性 警惕威胁社会安全是指对他人的包容、包容和保护的感知， 这是人类在生命各个阶段的核心需求。公共场所的社会安全提示（如看到“欢迎”） 迹象或类似的人的存在）帮助我们在日常生活中移动而没有持续的威胁-警惕， 提醒我们我们属于一个更大的保护性社会结构。然而，这种保护性的社会结构往往是 一旦被污名化的个人的身份被知道，他们就会退缩，导致他们感到不够安全， 保护，并纳入公共设置。缺乏安全的日常经历会培养长期的威胁警惕， 这增加了SGM的睡眠中断，物质使用，抑郁，焦虑，自杀想法/行为的风险， 和全身性炎症。拟议的研究测试了这种开创性的新方法，以SGM健康， 创新的研究设计：我们将使用定制设计的智能手机应用程序来收集“众包” 报告社交安全信号的存在（例如看到像你这样的人或进行友好的互动 与陌生人）在15个预先选定的校园设置。参与者将是300名本科生（50% SGM和 30%的少数民族）。使用这4500份报告，我们将计算每个设置的感知安全性（1） 白色SGM，（2）少数民族SGM，（3）白色非SGM，（4）少数民族SGM。30个SGM的子集 参与者（30%为少数民族）将在佩戴便携式无线生物传感器的同时完成这些报告 设备连续5天（120小时），以捕捉实时变化的生理指标的威胁- 与占用安全区相关的警惕性（皮肤电活动增加和心率变异性降低） 与不安全设置的对比。我们预测，在120小时的评估中， 在较安全的环境中，那些同时具有较低水平的威胁-警惕性的人，将有更好的睡眠质量， 减少抑郁和焦虑，减少物质使用，减少自我伤害/自杀意念，降低系统性 炎症（与慢性社会威胁直接相关的免疫风险因素）。我们的研究测试了一种创新的 SGM健康的理论模型，采用创新的方法（众包与定制开发的 智能手机应用程序），并采用创新技术（我们的无线“智能”是最小的可用 用于动态皮肤电评估的装置）。通过测试社会安全之间的预期关联， 在白色和少数民族SGM的威胁警惕性和健康结果，这项研究将开辟新的领域 我们认识到，社会安全是边缘化人口健康的关键社会决定因素之一。

Project Summary/Abstract (30 lines) SGMs individuals (LGBTQ+) face significant mental and physical health disparities, but the biobehavioral mechanisms underlying these disparities are not fully understood. The proposed study tests a new theoretical model (Diamond & Alley, 2022) positing that insufficient social safety worsens SGM health by fostering chronic threat-vigilance. Social safety refers to perceptions of belongingness, inclusion, and protection by other people, which are core human needs at all stages of life. Cues of social safety in public spaces (such as seeing “welcome” signs or the presence of similar people) help us to move through our daily lives without constant threat-vigilance, by reminding us that we belong to a larger protective social fabric. Yet this protective social fabric is often withdrawn from stigmatized individuals once their identities are known, leading them to feel insufficiently safe, protected, and included in public settings. Daily experiences of insufficient safety foster chronic threat-vigilance, which increases SGM’s risks for sleep disruption, substance use, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation/behavior, and systemic inflammation. The proposed research tests this groundbreaking new approach to SGM health with an innovative research design: We will use a custom-designed smartphone application to collect “crowdsourced” reports on the presence of social safety signals (such as seeing people like yourself or having friendly interactions with strangers) across 15 pre-selected campus settings. Participants will be 300 undergraduates (50% SGM and 30% ethnic-minority). Using these 4500 reports, we will calculate the perceived safety of each setting for (1) white SGMs, (2) ethnic-minority SGMs, (3) white non-SGMs, and (4) ethnic-minority SGMs. A subset of 30 SGM participants (30% ethnic-minority) will complete these reports while also wearing ambulatory wireless biosensing devices for 5 consecutive days (120 hours), to capture real-time changes in physiological indices of threat- vigilance (increased electrodermal activity and reduced heart-rate variability) associated with occupying safe versus unsafe settings. We predict that participants who spend a greater proportion of the 120-hour assessment period in safer settings, and who have reduced levels of concurrent threat-vigilance, will have better sleep quality, less depression and anxiety, less substance use, less self-harm/suicidal ideation, and lower systemic inflammation (an immunological risk factor directly related to chronic social threat). Our study tests an innovative theoretical model of SGM health, uses an innovative methodology (crowdsourcing with a custom-developed smartphone application), and employs innovative technology (our wireless “smartring” is the smallest available device for ambulatory electrodermal assessment). By testing prospective associations among social safety, threat-vigilance, and health outcomes in both white and ethnic-minority SGMs, this study will break new ground in our understanding of social safety as one of the key social determinants of health for marginalized populations.