DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY

MID LA UNION CAMPUS

City of San Fernando, La Union

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

Psychology Department
S.Y. 2021-2022, 2nd Semester

Assessing the High-Risk of Social Anxiety Disorder Among LGBTQIA+ College Students

Submitted by:

Lacanaria, Sandra G.

Laranang, Ana Marie M.

Mislang, Mary Joyce S.

Submitted to:

Mrs. Arvella Albay

Field Methods in Psychology Instructor

Date submitted: 17/ September / 2022

 DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
MID LA UNION CAMPUS
City of San Fernando, La Union

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

Psychology Department
S.Y. 2021-2022, 2nd Semester

ABSTRACT

Several models of relationships were probably applicable to the members of LGBTQIA+

community. Being in a society with different perspective manners, there will be a prompt of

violence or crimes. Within this, it can evaluate the ability of the possible circumstances that can

make them aware of their safety regarding the increase of ongoing discrimination and bias

around them that can cause guilt, fear, avoidance and to extent can cause anxiety. This

research study will be using a quantitative method that leads the researchers to utilize the

correlational research design to assess the relationship between Social Anxiety Disorder and

the LGBTQIA+ population without interference from any peripheral variable. The researchers’

target population are a total of seventy-five participants of the LGBTQIA+. It will be conduct by

gathering a randomly select participants and the researchers will give questionnaires specifically

Leibowitz Social Anxiety Scale. The statistical tests will be use in this research is the Descriptive

Statistics, the Independent Samples T-test, and the Pearson’s correlation coefficient.
 DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
MID LA UNION CAMPUS
City of San Fernando, La Union

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

Psychology Department
S.Y. 2021-2022, 2nd Semester

INTRODUCTION

Overview

This chapter present the introduction of the research study. It includes the review of

related literature, and the statement of the problem.

Situational Analysis

Growing up as a member in the LGBTQIA+ community, there were probably not many

models of relationships that were applicable to them. In the simplest words, it's similar to being

born left-handed and growing up in a right-handed society thus, it can even entail open violence

or hate crimes, to put it in more grave words. It also develops the ability to assess each

circumstance and decide if it is safe for them to be themselves. This is a typical reaction to

ongoing bias and discrimination, but it can also cause guilt, fear and to extent can cause

anxiety.

The fact that Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) typically manifests in adolescence (Myar,

2018), when LGBTQIA+ people may be experiencing their first experiences with hate and

humiliation for who they are, is also significant. These outside signals may eventually become

internalized and affect the way they view themselves thus, if the outside world constantly sends

conflicting messages about who they are, then they could come to believe that they are

imperfect and unlovable at last, their mental health may suffer significant, long-lasting harm as a

result of this encounter (Cuncic, 2021).

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual (LGBTQIA+)

individuals are not unfamiliar to anyone therefore this notion of uniqueness in sexual orientation

is more widely recognized in contemporary society than in the past. In a global setting, lack of
 DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
MID LA UNION CAMPUS
City of San Fernando, La Union

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

Psychology Department
S.Y. 2021-2022, 2nd Semester

recognition, legal difficulties, refusal of medical care, and the stigma associated with LGBTQIA+

individuals. Despite being widely acknowledged, the lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ persons

have drawn criticism leading into psychological disorders like depression and anxiety.

The notion of social stress expands the theory of stress by proposing that factors in the

social environment, in addition to personal events, are causes of stress that can result in mental

and physical ill health. People who belong to stigmatized social groups, such as those based on

socioeconomic class, race/ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation, might therefore be predicted

to experience a significant impact from social stress. According to these formulations, prejudice

and discrimination based on low socioeconomic status, racism, sexism, or homophobia can

induce changes that necessitate adaptation and are therefore conceptualized as stressful

(Allison, 1998; Barnett, Biener, & Baruch, 1987; Clark, Anderson, Clark, & Williams, 1999;

Meyer, 1995; Mirowsky & Ross, 1989; Pearlin, 1999). According to the Anxiety and Depression

Association of America, between 30% and 60% of LGBTQIA+ people live with anxiety and

depression at some point in their lives, and they are 1.5 to 2.5 times at higher risk for these

disorders than heterosexual (Dr. Goldman, 2021).

Moreover, according to the minority stress theory (Meyer, 2003), the increased

prevalence of mental health issues among LGBTQI+ is a result of the increased level of social

stress, which includes stigma, discrimination, prejudice, and victimization. Adolescence is a

crucial period of neurodevelopment, characterized by heightened effects of stress on mental

health, significant memory system development, and heightened sensitivity to drug use

(Fuhrmann et al. 2018). Feeling discriminated against by educational, medical, or religious

institutions or internalizing feelings of victimization due to homophobia, transphobia, or biphobia

 DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
MID LA UNION CAMPUS
City of San Fernando, La Union

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

Psychology Department
S.Y. 2021-2022, 2nd Semester

can result in significant psychological challenges for sexual and gender minority youth during

this crucial developmental period (Russell and Fish 2017). Consistent evidence demonstrates

that issues such as marginalization, isolation, exclusion, and bullying contribute to the social

stress of sexual and gender minority (Grossman et al. 2017; Hafeez et al. 2019). Inaccessibility

to understanding adults, safe spaces, and changing facilities imposes an additional

psychological burden. However, as Bryan and Maycock (2017) note, this can create a

pathologizing phenomenon, which paradoxically may stigmatize well-adjusted and content

LGBTQI+ who manage their lives with psychological ease. Furthermore, the minority stress

theory (Wilkerson et al., 2019) suggests that the mental health of LGBTQIA+ identifying

individuals is affected by the degree to which their social environment stigmatizes gender and/or

sexual minorities and the degree to which they must conceal their nonconformity and identity.

This theory is complementary to the social ties theory, which posits that LGBTQIA+

mental health is also influenced by the strength of primary (close friends and family) and

secondary (peers) social relationships. If a sexual minority member in an environment has fewer

and/or weaker social ties, he/she/they will experience greater minority stress, and vice versa.

Although studying a group that is mainly shrouded in secrecy makes it exceedingly

difficult to get a representative sample, it indicates that LGBTQIA+ teenagers and young adults

have a disproportionately high prevalence of anxiety, despair, and suicide attempts. Recent

study shows that LGBTQIA+ community experiencing lack of self-confidence and feeling

nervous when communicating to other people due to the mindset that they are being judged or

scrutinized by those people that surrounds them. The fear and phobia to socialize with other
 DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
MID LA UNION CAMPUS
City of San Fernando, La Union

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

Psychology Department
S.Y. 2021-2022, 2nd Semester

people seems hard to the LGBTQIA+ members even when meeting other people, attending

social gatherings and talking to other people (Adlefy, 2019).

According to structuration theory, structures and systems generate particular practices

by way of their deeply embedded rules (Fredman, Schultz, & Hoffman, 2015). Systems in this

context are defined as "observable patterns of relationships in practices, including relations

between operations and divisions," whereas structures are defined as "rules and resources

individuals draw on to participate in systems..." (Fredman, Schultz, & Hoffman, 2015). These

normative structures and systems are reproduced by individuals who choose to follow their

rules, thereby perpetuating an oppressive cycle for "non-normative" community members. Since

before the era of racial segregation, the United States has had a history of exclusionary

education policy, which is continued in the expulsion of transgender people (and the LGBTQ

community as a whole) from a heteronormative society.

Furthermore, coming out has never been easy when you come from a family that values

tradition and culture. According to Stahl, Love, and Terepka's research from 2021, the family

environment is the most difficult to manage when coming out as LGBTQIA+, but it's also the

most important. This is due to the fact that the parent-child connection is crucial to children's

health and welfare, and the nature of this contact affects the development of other healthy

relationships in the future. A healthy sense of self depends on parental approval, and respect

instills self-worth in people. Russel and Fish (2016) discovered that social support for sexuality

from parents, friends, and the community throughout adolescence specifically correlated to

improved wellbeing in early adulthood, with the parental support having the most influence.
 DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
MID LA UNION CAMPUS
City of San Fernando, La Union

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

Psychology Department
S.Y. 2021-2022, 2nd Semester

According to statistics from throughout the world, 20% of LGBTQIA+ teenagers and

young have mental health problems every year. Between 78% and 84% of them reside in LMIC,

and their needs are often ignored (Newman, Prabhu, Akkakanjanasupar, & Tepjan, 2021).

In the Philippine settings, Manalastas & Torre (2018) looked at the ways in which the

Filipino LGBTQIA+ movement promoted human rights to achieve legal empowerment and equal

rights, which may result in social change and a decrease in the possibility of inequities. The

majority of these people's worries are related to Philippine laws and regulations, including those

pertaining to marriage equality, fair and equal treatment, and freedom from discrimination.

However, LGBTQIA+ Filipinos frequently face societal pressures to conceal, deny, or

even try to modify their identities and expressions in order to be accepted by society and to

enjoy their rights. These encounters may result in considerable psychological suffering,

including immediate repercussions like dread, despair, isolation, rage, and internalized shame,

even though many LGBTQIA+ people are able to deal with this societal stigma they still

suffering from and worst lead to depression and anxiety (Hatzenbuehler, 2018; Meyer, 2019).

Certain moral condemnation-based arguments that link these gender expressions and sexual

orientations to psychopathology or social maladjustment serve as the foundation for anti-LGBT

prejudice and discrimination, which is often driven by misinformation or erroneous assumptions.

Inappropriate and deeply painful remarks like these contribute to the double burden, and

the minority stress experienced by Filipino LGBTQIA+. Advocates and LGBTQIA+ activists from

UP Babaylan report that “being hurt by the closest people [in an LGBTQIA+] individual’s life can

bring the most serious fear and trauma. That makes LGBT people feel more scared to come out

to the public and it is also the main cause of mental illness” (Tang & Poudel, 2018). 
 DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
MID LA UNION CAMPUS
City of San Fernando, La Union

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

Psychology Department
S.Y. 2021-2022, 2nd Semester

According to Being LGBT in Asia: The Philippines Country Report, a review and analysis

conducted jointly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the US Agency

for International Development (USAID), LGBTQIA+ communities within certain communities in

Mindanao, “LGBT people are treated with less dignity because they are perceived to promote

‘non-Islamic’ ways in society…There are also stories of religiously inspired hate crimes with a

pattern of the targeted killings of Muslim gay men and [transwomen]” (UNDP & USAID, 2014, p.

28). Because of this LGBTQIA+ individuals scared to out with their true colors and will let

society decide for them. There are also few studies specializing in the experiences of Trans and

intersex Filipinos (ASEAN SOGIE Caucus, 2017, p. 3), a trend that is not uncommon in

Southeast Asia. According to the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions

(2016), “in [Southeast Asia] and globally, transgender organizations have attempted to monitor

the most extreme forms of violence, when transgender people have been killed because of their

gender identity. 

These killings and instances of grievous violence often go unreported and

uninvestigated in the Philippines where members of the law enforcement and other powerful

institutions themselves perpetrate violence. There is also a lack of systemic support for

transwomen, men, and intersex LGBTQIA+ Filipinos, of whom “[transmen] face high levels of

violence and abuse within [their families]” (Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights

Institutions, 2016, p. 48). With the underlying factors, it is hard for the LGBTQIA+ community to

accept themselves and just choose to shut up, it is hard to communicate because of the fear

and embarrassment for being a LGBTQIA+ member that will lead to rejection and being

offended.
 DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
MID LA UNION CAMPUS
City of San Fernando, La Union

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

Psychology Department
S.Y. 2021-2022, 2nd Semester

According to the ASEAN SOGIE Caucus (2017), LGBTQIA+ Filipinos face a greater risk

of finding themselves in stressful circumstances including emotional abuse, verbal harassment,

neglect, battery, and sexual assault perpetrated by parents, siblings, and their relatives. The

spaces that LGBTQIA+ Filipinos occupy–their homes and schools–may expose them to

bullying, a form of violence with long-term impact (Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights

Institutions, 2016, p. 47) on young individuals.

The Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP) supports international

campaigns to end the discrimination against LGBTQIA+ persons and to eradicate the long-

standing stigma associated with mental illness. In support to this the municipality of City of San

Fernando , La Union believed that minor stress like fear, avoidance, embarrassment, rejection,

teasing and humiliation that will lead to a psychological disorder which is social anxiety among

the LGBTQIA+ community must end the suffrage and in order to accepted by the society an

ordinance passes conducted in the said municipality, whereas, ten out of 10 Sangguniang

Panlalawigan (SP) Members who were present during the session voted for the passage of

Draft Ordinance No. 184-2019 entitled “Prohibiting Acts and Conducts of Discrimination on the

Basis of Sex, Actual or Perceived Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression,

Disability, Age, Ethnic Origin, Civil/Marital Status, and Religious and Political Affiliation or

Beliefs” during the 34th Regular Session of the 22nd SP on February 18, 2020 at the SP

Session Hall, City of San Fernando, La Union. The adoption of this ordinance intends to

guarantee the protection and advancement of everyone's human rights, irrespective of who they

are and where they are from.

 DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
MID LA UNION CAMPUS
City of San Fernando, La Union

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

Psychology Department
S.Y. 2021-2022, 2nd Semester

People who identified as being part of the LGBTQ community have experienced

discrimination in the form of cruel remarks including curse words, catcalls, prejudgment, or

online abuse, and all forms of bullying-verbal, emotional, and physical that will lead into stress,

anxiety and depression. The pain associated with the social stigma of being LGBTQIA+, of

living in a culture that, for the most part, is homophobic and heterosexist, is traumatic (Sloane,

2021).

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to assess the high-risk of social anxiety disorders among LGBTQIA+

College students.

Specifically, it sought to answer the following sub-problems:

1. Demographic profile of the respondents in terms of:

a. Gender

b. Age

c. College Course

2. What is the level of Social Anxiety in terms of fear and avoidance along with:

a. fear or anxiety specific to social settings

b. social rejection

c. social interaction

3. Is there a significant difference between Social Anxiety Disorder and LGBTQIA+ college

students in terms of:

a. fear or avoidance in fear or anxiety specific to social settings

 DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
MID LA UNION CAMPUS
City of San Fernando, La Union

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

Psychology Department
S.Y. 2021-2022, 2nd Semester

b. fear and avoidance in social rejection

c. fear and avoidance in social interaction

4. Is there a significant relationship between LGBTQIA+ College Students to Social Anxiety?

 DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
MID LA UNION CAMPUS
City of San Fernando, La Union

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

Psychology Department
S.Y. 2021-2022, 2nd Semester

METHOD

Overview

This chapter present the methodology of the research study. It includes the research

design, the participants, materials, procedures and the data analysis.

Design

The main idea of this study is to assess the high-risk individual of Social Anxiety

Disorder among the LGBTQIA+ population. Thus, the use of quantitative method as a research

method is ideal. According to Williams (2021), the purpose of quantitative research is to attain

greater knowledge and understanding of the social world. Furthermore, the researchers have a

transformative worldview, thus quantitative method can help the researchers end with

conclusions and recommendations that could help the participants and future readers of the

study. Because quantitative research method provides numerical data which result that can be

analyzed statistically, the researchers could assess the individuals with high-risk of Social

Anxiety Disorder among the LGBTQIA+ population (Tan, 2017)

Therefore, the use of the quantitative method leads the researchers to utilize the

correlational research design because it ultimately assesses the relationship between Social

Anxiety Disorder and the LGBTQIA+ population without interference from any peripheral

variable.

Participants

The researchers’ target population are a total of seventy-five participants of the LGBTQIA+.

The subjects are approach at non- probability sampling technique particularly purposive

sampling whereas it has a particular subset of people that will be invited to participate within the
 DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
MID LA UNION CAMPUS
City of San Fernando, La Union

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

Psychology Department
S.Y. 2021-2022, 2nd Semester

said research. Whereas, they all came from Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University

Mid-La Union Campus.

According to Etikan (2017), the purposive sampling, also known as judgment sampling

method, involves selecting participants consciously based on the qualities they exhibit. It is a

nonrandom technique that does not require underlying theories or a predetermined number of

participants. To put it simply, the researcher selects what information is necessary to have and

then searches for individuals who can and are willing to give information based on their

experience or experience.

Material

This section of the methodology encompasses all research-related tasks that must be

conducted in order to obtain the purpose of the study. The entire materials utilize are presented

in detail.

The researchers will be adapting a questionnaire which is the Liebowitz Social Anxiety

Scale (LSAS) developed by Dr. Michael R. Liebowitz, a psychiatrist and researcher. This

questionnaire was the first evaluation instrument developed to screen Social Anxiety Disorder

signs and symptoms and is currently still the most used worldwide whereas, it is specially

designed to assess the high-risk of social interaction, social rejection and fear or anxiety to

specific local settings among individuals and especially to the target participants which are the

LGBTQIA+ community.

Procedure

The collecting of basic data begins with the gathering of subjects to participate in the

research. To get the 75 LGBTQIA+ participants for the research, the researchers will randomly
 DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
MID LA UNION CAMPUS
City of San Fernando, La Union

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

Psychology Department
S.Y. 2021-2022, 2nd Semester

select the participants as long as it is member of the LGBTQIA+ community and a friend referral

will also be employed in the sampling procedure which means other participants can invite their

LGBTQIA+ friends to participate in the said study.

The participants are formally ask to volunteer to be the subject of the research by informing

them about the nature, purpose, and method of the study, as well as discussing the risks reduce

by the research in order to maintain precautionary measures and health protocols during the

research proper. They will also inform that they can withdraw or discontinue their involvement at

any moment.

Prior to the research proper, the researchers will give the participants a questionnaire

that will help in assessing if they are high risk of social anxiety. Then the participants will give an

ample time to answer the questions. After completing the questionnaires, the researchers will

thank the participants and inform them that the information and responses they supply would

keep in accordance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012. Lastly, the researchers give the

participants small amount of gratitude in participating the research.

Data Analysis

This section explains the tools utilize for the research’s data analysis.

According to American Society for Quality (ASQ) (2022), data collection and analysis

tools are defined as a series of charts, maps, and diagrams designed to collect, interpret, and

present data for a wide range of applications and industries. Various programs and

methodologies have been developed for use in nearly any industry, ranging from manufacturing

and quality assurance to research groups and data collection companies (American Society for

Quality (ASQ), 2022).

 DON MARIANO MARCOS MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
MID LA UNION CAMPUS
City of San Fernando, La Union

COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

Psychology Department
S.Y. 2021-2022, 2nd Semester

Hence, this study will make use of record sheet to record the data obtain. A record

sheet, as stated by ASQ (2022), is a generic tool that can be adapted for a wide variety of

purposes, the record sheet is a structured, prepared form for collecting and analyzing data.

Meanwhile, the statistical tests employ in this research are descriptive statistics, t-test

mainly the Independent Samples T-test, and lastly, the Pearson’s correlation coefficient using

the SPSS. Wherein, to know the level of social anxiety among the participants, descriptive

statistic will employ because short informative coefficients that succinctly describe a particular

data collection, which may be a sampling of a population or a representation of the full

population thus to compute the level of social anxiety, the measurements of central tendency

and measures of variability make up descriptive statistics.

To test whether there is a statistically significant difference between social anxiety

disorders and LGBTQIA+ college students in terms of fear or avoidance in fear or anxiety in

specific to social settings, fear and avoidance in social rejection and fear and avoidance in

social interaction, the researcher will use of the t-test for Independent sample means. Thus, the

Independent Samples t-test compares the means of two independent groups in order to

determine whether there is statistical evidence that the associated population means are

significantly different (Kent State University, 2021). On the other hand, to test whether there is

relationship between Social Anxiety Disorder and LGBTQIA+ college students, Pearson

correlation will employ.