Sexual minority individuals (SMI) are at high risk of developing mental health problems. Building upon the concepts of the minority stress and minority strength models, this cross-sectional...Show moreSexual minority individuals (SMI) are at high risk of developing mental health problems. Building upon the concepts of the minority stress and minority strength models, this cross-sectional secondary data analysis aimed to identify further factors that impact the mental health of SMI. The following hypotheses were tested: (1) the higher the parental acceptance (PA), the lower the internalized homonegativity (IH), (2) the higher the parental acceptance, the higher the self-respect (SR), (3) the higher the IH, the lower the SR, and (4) the relationship between PA and SR will be mediated by IH. Self-identified SMI respondents - mainly young, educated, Western European women - filled out an online survey consisting of the Parental Acceptance of Sexual Minority Identity questionnaire, the Internalized Homonegativity scale, and the Self-Respect scale (n = 249; nbisexual = 131; ngay = 59; nother = 59; Mage = 21.6). Hypothesis one was rejected as there was no significant correlation between PA and IH (r(247) = -.06, p = .38). In contrast, there was a moderate positive correlation between PA and SR (r(247) = .34, p < .001) confirming hypothesis two, and a weak negative correlation between IH and SR (r(247) = -.17, p = .008) confirming hypothesis three. The conditions for a mediation analysis were not satisfied and therefore hypothesis four was not tested. These results provide preliminary support for relationships between different constructs that implicate mental health in SMI. Future research should investigate the causal relationship between these constructs before any interventions can be applied.Show less
Past research indicates that psychological well-being is positively influenced by protective factors including religiosity, identity achievement, and identity affirmation. However, studies applying...Show morePast research indicates that psychological well-being is positively influenced by protective factors including religiosity, identity achievement, and identity affirmation. However, studies applying this model to SMI populations and investigating the interaction of protective factors listed above are yet scarce. This study, following a strengths-based approach, was focused on intrinsic religiosity and psychological well-being in SMI individuals and investigated whether the relationship between the two was mediated by identity achievement and identity affirmation while having gender as a covariate. An online survey was conducted where the participants were sexual minority adults (N = 241). The hypothesis was investigated using the fourth model of Hayes Mediation and Moderation Analysis Models. Additionally, Spearman’s correlation coefficients were calculated for each variable. The model yielded insignificant results for both identity achievement (b (SE) = .- 05 (.09), 95% CI: [-.26, .12]) and identity affirmation (b (SE): .03 (.18), 95% CI: [-.40, .34]) as mediators. The total effect of intrinsic religiosity on psychological well-being was also insignificant with b (SE) = -.57 (.57), t = -1.01, p = .31, 95% CI: [-1.69, .55]. The results of the study indicated that the proposed mediation model was insignificant and that the effect of intrinsic religiosity on psychological wellbeing is not mediated by identity achievement or affirmation. Future studies investigating this relationship should aim to obtain a sample with more variance in intrinsic religiosity. It is also recommended to integrate other protective factors into this model such as parental acceptance to explore the interactions in depth.Show less
