The Moderating Effect of Comfort from Companion Animals and Social Support on the Relationship between Microaggressions and Mental Health in LGBTQ+ Emerging Adults.

Angela Matijczak,Camie A Tomlinson,Shelby E Mcdonald,Jennifer L Murphy,Kelly O’Connor

doi:10.3390/bs11010001

Angela Matijczak, Camie A Tomlinson + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/bs11010001

Copy DOI

Abstract

LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual/gender minority identities) individuals frequently report exposure to microaggressions, which are associated with deleterious mental health outcomes. Social support from humans has been found to be an important protective factor for LGBTQ+ emerging adults. However, an underexplored area of research is the protective role of interactions with companion animals for this population. We conducted simple and multiple moderation analyses to explore whether and to what extent emotional comfort from companion animals and human social support moderated the relationship between LGBTQ-related microaggressions and depressive and anxiety symptoms. Our sample included 134 LGBTQ+ emerging adults (mean age of 19.31). We found that social support moderated the relationship between microaggressions and depressive symptoms. The relationship between microaggressions and depressive symptoms was not significant at high levels of social support, indicating the protective nature of human social support. Comfort from companion animals also moderated the relationship between interpersonal microaggressions and depressive symptoms. For participants with high or medium levels of emotional comfort from companion animals, interpersonal microaggressions were positively associated with depressive symptoms. Our results highlight the need to further investigate the complex role of relationships with companion animals on mental health outcomes for LGBTQ+ emerging adults.

Highlights

Individuals who identify as LGBTQ+ are a diverse group of people that face increased risk of deleterious mental health outcomes due to experiences of victimization, discrimination, and other forms of sexual and gender minority stress [1,2,3,4,5]
We found that the effect of environmental microaggressions on depressive symptoms was moderated by social support (∆R2 = 0.03, F(1, 122) = 4.27, β = −0.20, t(123) = −2.07, p = 0.041), but not by emotional comfort from companion animals (∆R2 = 0.01, F(1, 122)
The association between microaggressions and depressive symptoms was not significant when the participants reported high levels of social support, regardless of the level of emotional comfort derived from companion animals

Summary

Introduction

Individuals who identify as LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual or gender minority identities) are a diverse group of people that face increased risk of deleterious mental health outcomes due to experiences of victimization, discrimination, and other forms of sexual and gender minority stress [1,2,3,4,5]. The Minority Stress Model [7] is a conceptual framework that has been applied to explain the unique stressors LGBTQ+ individuals experience and how these stressors impact risk and resilience in LGBTQ+ individuals and communities. In this framework, Meyer [7] distinguishes between two different types of stressors: distal stressors and proximal stressors. Proximal stressors are subjective, personal appraisals or perceptions, such as internalized homophobia and other negative societal attitudes associated with one’s own identity

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion