Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Co-Existing Mental Health Disorders among LGBTQ Population in Selected Support Groups in Kenya

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) individuals. In addition to PTSD, the condition is likely to co-exist with additional psychiatric disorders (Livingston, Berke, Scholl, Ruben, & Shipherd, 2020). However, little is known about the additional psychiatric disorders with PTSD among the LGBTQ individuals. Therefore, this current cross- sectional survey examined the estimate of PTSD and other comorbidities among the LGBTQ individuals in selected support groups in Kenya. Researcher-generated sociodemographic questionnaire and standardized psychological tools namely, The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL-5), Becks Depression Inventory-II, Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-10) were used as research instruments to collect data from the sample size of 148participants that were recruited using purposive sampling technique. Collected data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, namely Fisher’s Exact test, Chi-square test, Pearson correlation test, and Binary Logistic Regression. Results from the study showed that PTSD was 93% of the LGBTQ with PTSD equally have depressive disorder, 74% of the participants with PTSD similarly have alcohol use disorder, and that 89.3% of LGBTQ individuals with PTSD also use illicit drugs. Pearson correlation test indicated that there was a positive correlation between PTSD and depression, and drug use disorder. Also, a positive correlation was found between alcohol use disorder and depressive disorder. Binary logistic regression showed that LGBTQ individuals with PTSD are 15.9 adjusted odd ratio to developing depressive disorder (AOR: 15.92; 95% CI: 5.517- 45.962). Conversely, alcohol use disorder was found to be a protective factor in this study (AOR: .87; 95% CI: .355 – 2.139). This suggests that participants used alcohol in this study for positive adjustment in coping with PTSD symptoms. In conclusion, the experience of discrimination, victimization, and minority stress by members of LGBTQ in Kenya have led to other psychiatric conditions besides PTSD