Poster #18 - Resiliency Factors That Support Less Depressive and Anxious Symptoms in African American LGBTQ+ Emerging Adults

• In Event: Poster Session 05

Abstract

African American youth identifying as LGBTQ+ are often at increased risk to adverse experiences such as discrimination, stigma, and family rejection that impact psychological well-being (Hailey et al., 2020). Due to the interplay of ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation identity that shape these experiences, it is imperative to identify potential resilience factors that leverage an intersectional lens. African Americans are one of the most religious subgroups in the United States (Hudson et al., 2015), and religiosity typically results in psychological benefits (Rose et al., 2020), but this benefit may not extend to LGBTQ+ populations who may feel alienated in their religious spaces. Additionally, factors associated with identity development are found to be protective for LGBTQ+ youth (Higa et al., 2014), but the promotive role of religious, ethnic, and sexual orientation identity have not been studied in relation to mental health.

We examined whether various aspects of identity processes pertinent to this population (ethnic, sexual orientation, and religious) would be associated with fewer depressive and anxious symptoms. We also examined whether experiences of family rejection or of having an LGBTQ+ affirming faith community were linked to mental health symptoms. The sample consisted of 135 emerging adults ages 18 to 25 (Mage= 18.85, SD = 1.34) that self-identified as African American, and either one or more LGBTQ+ identity (e.g. Gay or Lesbian, Bisexual or Pansexual, Transgender or Genderqueer, Queer, Asexual, Intersex, Other). Participants were recruited from a psychology undergraduate research pool and campus-affiliated LGBTQ+ student organizations from a mid-sized public university in the Southeastern region of the United States.

In a multiple regression, LGB religious affirmation was significantly associated with fewer depressive symptoms (B =-.316, p = .003) and fewer anxious symptoms, (B =-.310, p= .003) (see Table 1). Family rejection was associated with greater depressive (B =.282; p< .001) and anxious symptoms (B =.257, p = .002). Surprisingly, ethnic, sexual, and religious identity were not found to be significantly associated with depressive or anxious outcomes, but there was trend level significance for ethnic identity being associated with more depressive symptoms (B=.176, p = .059).

A post-hoc two-step hierarchical regression was conducted to test if the identity factors would be associated with symptoms without the contextual factors in the model. In this first step, religious identity was the only identity factor significantly associated with fewer anxious symptoms (B =-.841, p=.040), but when entering both LGB religious affirmation (B =-1.388, p=.004) and family rejection (B =1.061, p=.022) in the second step, religious identity was no longer significant. Because religious identity was found to be positively correlated with religious LGB affirmation, r(133)=.56, p<.001, LGB religious affirmation may be a mediator between religious identity and anxious symptoms that needs to be tested in a longitudinal sample.

For African American LGBTQ+ emerging adults, consistent with past literature, family rejection is associated with worse mental health, but affirming religious communities may offer psychological benefits of religiosity evident in African American communities. Furthermore, these communities’ strengthened religious identity further support promotive outcomes in African American emerging adults.

Authors

• Jocelyn Little, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Presenting Author

• Michele Chan, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

• Joseph Sircar, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

• Gabriela Livas Stein, University of North Carolina at Greensboro