From Invisibility to Bivisibility: Identity Abuse and Mental Health Outcomes among Bisexual Individuals

Abstract

There has been a growth in research that is focused on the experiences of bisexual individuals. Bisexual individuals are disproportionately impacted by identity abuse, a form of intimate partner violence perpetrated against an individual’s visible and/or invisible identities that serves to discredit, undermine or devalue those identities (Scheer et al., 2019). The aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between experiences of identity abuse (in the past year and adulthood), depression and generalized anxiety symptoms, and how both are moderated by identity affirmation in a sample of 83 partnered bisexual people. A quarter of the sample endorsed having experienced at least one form of identity abuse in the past year and an overwhelming majority (66.3%) in their adulthood. Using moderation analyses, identity affirmation did not moderate the relationship between identity abuse in the past year and adulthood, and depression and generalized anxiety symptoms. These findings highlight the need to continue conducting research that is bisexual-specific in an effort to develop a better understanding of their experiences, stressors and protective factors.