Symposia
LGBQT+
John (Kai) Kellerman, M.S.
Rutgers University
Highland Park, New Jersey
Rebecca cipollina, M.S.
Doctoral student
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Piscataway, New Jersey
Evan M. Kleiman, PhD
Assistant Professor
Rutgers, The State university of new jersey
Piscataway, New Jersey
Suicidal ideation (SI) is disproportionately common among sexual minority (SM) individuals compared to heterosexuals. Minority stress theory posits that stress associated with concealing one’s sexual orientation contributes to negative mental health outcomes, including SI. Although evidence indicates that SI fluctuates over short periods of hours and days, limited research has examined how identity disclosure, or “outness,” may relate to short-term changes in SI among SM individuals. The goal of this study was to examine mediators (negative affect and social support) of the real-time occurrence of SI associated with SM identity concealment among college students.
A sample of 77 SM undergraduates were drawn from a larger ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study on stress, emotions, and behavior. At baseline, participants were asked to rate their identity disclosure to various groups (e.g., family, SM friends, heterosexual friends) on a scale of 0 (out to none) to 3 (out to all). Scores were summed to calculate an overall “outness” score for each participant ranging from 0 (not “out” to anyone) to 21 (“out” to all members of the queried groups). SI and negative affect were assessed using EMA surveys delivered via smartphone 6x/daily for 8 weeks. The last survey of each day asked about social support perceived from various sources (e.g., friends, family members) across the day.
Of the 77 participants, 93.5% (n=72) endorsed SI during the study period and were included in the study, contributing 9,913 survey responses across 2,578 days of data. Lower outness at baseline was significantly associated with greater average SI severity. Two multilevel mediation models were used to examine the relationship between outness at baseline, negative affect, social support, and SI. A significant indirect effect was found such that greater outness predicted higher social support which in turn predicted decreased daily SI (B=-0.14, 95% CI=-0.28, -0.03, p=.027). Similarly, greater outness predicted lower negative affect, which in turn predicted lower momentary SI at the next assessment (B=-0.24, 95% CI=-0.43, -0.08, p=.007).
Findings indicate that lower levels of disclosure about sexual orientation predict lower perceived social support, greater negative affect, and greater SI among SM undergraduates. Further, daily perceived social support and momentary negative affect mediate the relationship between “outness” and short-term fluctuations in SI. Future analyses will examine the relationship between daily attempts to conceal SM identity and SI.