Abstract
Identifying as LGBTQIA+ is associated with greater risk of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI); understanding why may aid in decreasing NSSI and associated risks in this vulnerable population. We examined discrimination, psychological distress, ‘outness’, resilience, and NSSI in 330 young adults (18–30) from the Australian LGBTQIA+ community. Individuals reporting NSSI reported more depression, anxiety and stress, and less resilience than those who had not engaged in NSSI. Perceived discrimination was not associated with NSSI engagement, however people identifying as queer reported more discrimination than other LGBTQIA+ participants. Additionally, not being ‘out’ in the workplace was associated with NSSI. Building resilience and social support within and for the LGBTQIA+ community may be beneficial in addressing LGBTQIA+ mental health and NSSI.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Almeida, J., Johnson, R. M., Corliss, H. L., Molnar, B. E., & Azrael, D. (2009). Emotional distress among LGBT youth: The influence of perceived discrimination based on sexual orientation. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38(7), 1001–1014. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-009-9397-9.
Bos, A. E., Kanner, D., Muris, P., Janssen, B., & Mayer, B. (2009). Mental illness stigma and disclosure: Consequences of coming out of the closet. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 30(8), 509–513. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840802601382.
Cheong, C. (2016). Who is more likely to self-injure? Exploring the risk and protective factors for the engagement of NSSI among sexual and gender minority youth (Masters dissertation). Retrieved from https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/ff0f79aa-f155-4556-b2b4-4e3eea995ea6/view/4bfa71fa-a6f1-4656-bcdc-ade1783aea75/Cheong_Clarissa_201609_MEd.pdf-A.pdf
Colpitts, E., & Gahagan, J. (2016). The utility of resilience as a conceptual framework for understanding and measuring LGBTQ health. International Journal For Equity In Health, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-016-0349-1
Davis, M. C., Luecken, L., & Lemery-Chalfant, K. (2009). Resilience in common life: Introduction to the special issue. Journal of Personality, 77(6), 1637–1644. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2009.00595.x.
Faul, F., & Erdfelder, E. (1992). GPOWER: A priori, post-hoc, and compromise power analyses for MS-DOS [computer program]. Bonn: Bonn University, Department of Psychology.
Feldman, S., & Wright, A. (2013). Dual impact: Outness and LGB identity formation on mental health. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services, 25(4), 443–464. https://doi.org/10.1080/10538720.2013.833066.
Fingerhut, A. W., Riggle, E. D. B., & Rostosky, S. S. (2011). Same-sex marriage: The social and psychological implications of policy and debates. Journal of Social Issues, 67(2), 225–241. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2011.01695.x.
Friborg, O., Hjemdal, O., Rosenvinge, J., & Martinussen, M. (2003). A new rating scale for adult resilience: What are the central protective resources behind healthy adjustment? International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 12(2), 65–76. https://doi.org/10.1002/mpr.143.
Garisch, J. A., & Wilson, M. S. (2015). Prevalence, correlates, and prospective predictors of non-suicidal self-injury among New Zealand adolescents: Cross- sectional and longitudinal survey data. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 9(28), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-015-0055-6.
Hasking, P., Whitlock, J., Voon, D., & Rose, A. (2016). A cognitive-emotional model of NSSI: Using emotion regulation and cognitive processes to explain why people self-injure. Cognition and Emotion, 31(8), 1543–1556. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2016.1241219.
House, A. S., Van Horn, E., Coppeans, C., & Stepleman, L. M. (2011). Interpersonal trauma and discriminatory events as predictors of suicidal and nonsuicidal self- injury in gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons. Traumatology, 17(2), 75–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534765610395621.
Hu, T., Zhang, D., & Wang, J. (2015). A meta-analysis of the trait resilience and mental health. Personality and Individual Differences, 76, 18–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.11.039.
Jiang, Y., You, J., Ren, Y., Sun, R., Liao, S., Zhu, J., & Ma, N. (2017). Brief report: A preliminary comparison of self-compassion between adolescents with nonsuicidal self-injury thoughts and actions. Journal of Adolescence, 59, 124–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2017.05.019.
Klonsky, E. D. (2007). The functions of deliberate self-injury: A review of the evidence. Clinical Psychology Review, 27, 226–239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2006.08.002.
Klonsky, D. E., & Glenn, C. R. (2009). Assessing the functions of non-suicidal self- injury: Psychometric properties of the inventory of statements about self-injury (ISAS). Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioural Assessment, 31, 215–219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-008-9107-z.
Kwon, P. (2013). Resilience in lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 17(4), 371–383. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868313490248.
Lea, T., de Wit, J., & Reynolds, R. (2014). Minority stress in lesbian, gay, and bisexual young adults in Australia: Associations with psychological distress, suicidality, and substance use. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 43(8), 1571–1578. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0266-6.
Legate, N., Ryan, R., & Weinstein, N. (2011). Is coming out always a “good thing”? Exploring the relations of autonomy support, outness, and wellness for lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 3(2), 145–152. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550611411929.
Little, R. J. A. (1988). A test of missing completely at random for multivariate data with missing values. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 83(404), 1198–1202. https://doi.org/10.2307/2290157.
Lovibond, P., & Lovibond, S. (1995). The structure of negative emotional states: Comparison of the depression anxiety stress scales (DASS) with the Beck depression and anxiety inventories. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 33(3), 335–343. https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7967(94)00075-u.
Luthar, S. S., Cicchetti, D., & Becker, B. (2000). The construct of resilience- a critical evaluation and guidelines for future work. Child Development, 71(3), 543–562 Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1132374.
Marshal, M. P., Dietz, L. J., Friedman, M. S., Stall, R., Smith, H. A., McGinley, J., . . Brent, D. A. (2011). Suicidality and depression disparities between sexual minority and heterosexual youth: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Adolescent Health, 49(2), 115–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.02.005.
McCartney, J. T. (2016). Self harm and LGBTQ - A systematic review (Masters dissertation). Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309282376_Self_Harm_and_LGBTQ_-_A_Systematic_Review.
McGarrity, L., & Huebner, D. (2014). Is being out about sexual orientation uniformly healthy? The moderating role of socioeconomic status in a prospective study of gay and bisexual men. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 47(1), 28–38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-013-9575-6.
McKenzie, K., & Gross, J. (2014). Nonsuicidal self-injury: An emotion regulation perspective. Psychopathology, 47(4), 207–219. https://doi.org/10.1159/000358097.
Meyer, I. H. (2003). Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: Conceptual issues and research evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 129(5), 674–697. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.5.674.
Meyer, I. H., Rossano, L., Ellis, J. M., & Bradford, J. (2002). A brief telephone interview to identify lesbian and bisexual women in random digit dialing sampling. Journal of Sex Research, 39(2), 139–144. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490209552133.
Molero, F., Recio, P., García-Ael, C., Fuster, M. J., & Sanjuán, P. (2012). Measuring dimensions of perceived discrimination in five stigmatized groups. Social Indicators Research, 114(3), 901–914. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0179-5.
Morris, S. (2016). Snapshot of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Statistics for LGBTI People and Communities. Retrieved from http://lgbtihealth.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/SNAPSHOT-Mental-Health-and-Suicide-Prevention-Outcomes-for-LGBTI-people-and-communities.pdf.
Muehlenkamp, J. J., Hilt, L. M., Ehlinger, P. P., & McMillan, T. (2015). Nonsuicidal self-injury in sexual minority college students: A test of theoretical integration. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, (9)16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-015-0050-y.
Nickels, S. J., Walls, N. E., Laser, J. A., & Wisneski, H. (2011). Differences in motivations of cutting behavior among sexual minority youth. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 29(1), 41–59. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-011-0245-x.
Nock, M., & Favazza, A. R. (2009). Non-suicidal self-injury: Definition and classification. In M. K. Nock (Ed.), Understanding non-suicidal self-injury: Origins, assessment, and treatment (pp. 9–18). Washington D.C: American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/11875-001.
Quinn, D., Weisz, B., & Lawner, E. (2017). Impact of active concealment of stigmatized identities on physical and psychological quality of life. Social Science & Medicine, 192, 14–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.09.024.
Reisner, S. L., Biello, K., Perry, N. S., Gamarel, K. E., & Mimiaga, M. J. (2014). A compensatory model of risk and resilience applied to adolescent sexual orientation disparities in nonsuicidal self-injury and suicide attempts. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 84(5), 545–556. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000008.
Rostosky, S. S., Riggle, E. D. B., Horne, S. G., Denton, F. N., & Huellemeier, J. D. (2010). Lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals' psychological reactions to amendments denying access to civil marriage. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 80(3), 302–310. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.2010.01033.x.
Skegg, K., Shyamala, N., Dickson, N., Paul, C., & Williams, S. (2003). Sexual orientation and self-harm in men and women. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(3), 541–546. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.160.3.541.
Swannell, S. V., Martin, G. E., Page, A., Hasking, P., & St John, N. J. (2014). Prevalence of nonsuicidal self-injury in nonclinical samples: Systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression. Suicide and Life-threatening Behavior, 44(3), 273–303. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12070.
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2013). Using multivariate statistics (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Tatnell, R., Kelada, L., Hasking, P., & Martin, G. (2014). Longitudinal analysis of adolescent NSSI: The role of intrapersonal and interpersonal factors. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 42(6), 885–896. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-013-9837-6.
Tatnell, R., Hasking, P., & Newman, L. (2018). Multiple mediation modelling exploring relationships between specific aspects of attachment, emotion regulation, and non-suicidal self-injury. Australian Journal of Psychology, 70(1), 48–56. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajpy.12166.
Weiss, N. H., Sullivan, T. P., & Tull, M. T. (2015). Explicating the role of emotion dysregulation in risky behaviors: A review and synthesis of the literature with directions for future research and clinical practice. Current Opinion in Psychology, 3, 22–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.01.013.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Watson, C., Tatnell, R. Resilience and non-suicidal self-injury in LGBTQIA+ people: Targets for prevention and intervention. Curr Psychol 41, 307–314 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00573-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00573-7