Sexual Minority Young Adult Religiosity, Sexual Orientation Conflict, Self-Esteem and Depressive Symptoms

Abstract

Positive associations between religious involvement and psychosocial health outcomes have been amply documented. However, many of these studies have not accounted for the sexual identification of the participants sampled and have been limited in their conceptualization of religiosity. The religious context may be a source of conflict for some sexual minority individuals. As such, additional research is needed to examine the relationship between sexual minority religiosity and mental health. One-hundred and six sexual minority young adults (ages 18–24) were surveyed to examine the relationship between a multidimensional understanding of religiosity and sexual orientation conflict, self-esteem, and depressive symptoms. While behavioral religiosity was generally not related to mental health outcomes, affective and cognitive measures of religiosity indicate both risk and protective benefit. These relationships are not moderated by either biological sex or years since self-identification as a sexual minority.

KEYWORDS:

• sexual orientation
• sexual minority
• religiosity
• mental health