Evaluate the collective function of references cited together in a given text segment.
Classify their combined role into one of the following categories: 'method', 'background', or 'result'.

Text:As in other studies, major depression among the gay men we surveyed was strongly associated with weaker social support, less community involvement, the experience of more stress and a reliance on passive coping strategies (Dew et al. 1997; Mao et al. 2009b; Mills et al. 2004; Prachakul et al. 2007).
Category: