Depression Symptoms Among Divinity Students: the Interaction of Shame and Sexual and Gender Minority Status

Abstract

Introduction: It is important to understand the development of depression symptoms among sexual and gender minorities (SGMs), given disparities in mental health outcomes between SGM and non-SGM individuals. This study seeks to understand the association between shame and depression symptoms among SGMs at baseline and over time using cohort data from students at a mainline Protestant divinity school.Methods: We used data from the Seminary and Early Ministry (SEM) study to examine baseline demographics and depression symptoms over time from 2019-2022 entering cohorts of the Master of Divinity and Hybrid Master of Divinity programs at a mainline Protestant divinity school (abbreviated as MDS) in the United States. Using multilevel linear growth modeling, we modeled the change in depression symptoms over time as measured by Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression-Revised (CESD) score, examining the impact of shame as measured by Other As Shamer (OAS) scale.Findings: We found a significant interaction between SGM status and increased shame score with standardized CESD score. At baseline, SGM students with a one standard deviation higher standardized shame score displayed a greater standardized CESD score than non-SGM students (mean difference of 0.276, SE 0.160), but had a reduction in standardized CESD score from round 1 to round 3 compared to non-SGM students (mean difference of -0.209, SE 0.0962). Conclusions: The interaction between shame and SGM status was associated with increased standardized CESD score at baseline and decreasing standardized CESD score over time. Future studies should include items measuring shame over SGM status and the potential impact of social support from settings like MDS.