Biosocial Factors Shaping Perceptions of Disease Risk Among a Community-Based Sample of Sexual and Gender Minority People Living in Toronto During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Publication date: Sep 01, 2025

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected vulnerable populations, including sexual and gender minority (SGM) people. Food insecurity, prevalent among this population, may influence perceived vulnerability to infection and related psychological outcomes. This study investigated the association between food insecurity and perceived vulnerability to infection among SGM adults in Toronto, Canada, during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. A mixed-methods study was conducted with 338 self-identified SGM adults recruited via respondent-driven sampling to complete an internet-based survey between March and July 2021. Measures included food security status, germ aversion, perceived infectability, and COVID-19 worry. Structural equation modeling (SEM) examined pathways linking food insecurity, discrimination, sleep quality, and perceived vulnerability to disease, adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic covariates. The SEM showed that discrimination predicted increased food insecurity (β = 0. 30, p 

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Semantics

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