Predicting depressive symptoms at the intersection of attribution and minority stress theories

ABSTRACT

A nationwide online survey targeting college- and university-based LGBT student groups, community organizations, LGBT electronic mailing lists, and social media was utilized to collect data and measure the associations among victimization, childhood trauma, and attributional style (AS) in relation to depressive symptomology in LGBT young adults. Participants were 18- to 22-year-old LGBT individuals from across the United States, the majority of whom (88.9%) were European American. All participants reported same-sex attractions and/or behaviors in their lifetimes and/or identified as gender diverse. We hypothesized that childhood trauma and victimization (i.e., negative events) would be positively correlated with depressive symptoms and that a positive AS (i.e., attributing trauma and victimization to external, unstable, and specific causes) would buffer the relationship between trauma, victimization, and depression. Despite a nonsignificant moderated effect, positive AS may buffer overall against depressive symptoms among this at-risk minority demographic. Implications exist in regard to promoting resilience among LGBT youth and young adults through cognitive intervention and psychoeducational outreach.

KEYWORDS:

• Attributional style
• depression
• LGBT youth
• minority stress
• school victimization

Disclosure

The authors have no conflicts to disclose.