Prospective effects of resilience on mental health among sexual and gender minority young people

ABSTRACT

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals who are assigned-female-at-birth (i.e. sexual minority women, transgender men, and gender diverse individuals [SMWTGD]) experience an increased risk for negative mental health outcomes due to minority stress related to their minoritized identity. One proposed protective factor against negative mental health outcomes is resilience, which is one’s ability to effectively achieve positive outcomes following stressful events. Past research shows cross-sectional associations between resilience and mental health in both the general population and SGM individuals. However, we know of no longitudinal research testing whether resilience prospectively predicts mental health, or whether the prospective associations between resilience and mental health differ by demographics. Self-reports of resilience, depression, anxiety, suicidality, and substance use were collected at two time-points 6 months apart from 453 SMWTGD late adolescents and young adults who reside in the Midwest region of the United States. Time 1 resilience was negatively associated with Time 2 depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation, but not problematic substance use, controlling for Time 1 mental health. These associations were generally not moderated by demographic factors, suggesting that resilience operates consistently across most racial, sexual orientation, and gender identities within the SMWTGD community. These findings underscore the potential value of tailored interventions aimed at promoting resilience within SMWTGD.

KEYWORDS:

• Sexual and gender minorities
• resilience
• mental health
• prospective
• longitudinal

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data used in the research are available. The data can be obtained by emailing the author at [email protected]. Some materials used in the research are available. Measures that are not protected by copyright can be obtained by emailing the author at [email protected].

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development under Grant R01HD086170, Grant R01MH132692 from the National Institute of Mental Health which also supported this work.