TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring the Role of Attachment and Coping Strategies in Sexual Orientation Disparities in Depressive Symptoms
AU - Xu, Yin
AU - Feng, Jinghao
AU - Rahman, Qazi
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality.
PY - 2024/8/29
Y1 - 2024/8/29
N2 - We tested whether sexual orientation disparities in depressive symptoms are partially explained by a path through attachment anxiety or avoidance leading to ineffective coping strategies. A convenience sample of 1290 individuals from two reliable data collection platforms (Credamo and Wenjuanxing) in China were included. Structural equation modeling was performed, with sexual orientation treated as the independent variable, ineffective coping strategies, attachment avoidance and anxiety as mediators, and depressive symptoms as the dependent variable. We found that lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) individuals reported higher levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance than heterosexual individuals, regardless of sex, with Cohen’s ds ranging from 0.25 to 0.76. For both sexes, LGB individuals reported more depressive symptoms than heterosexual individuals, with total effects (standardized regression coefficients) ranging from 0.22 to 0.26. More depressive symptoms reported by LGB individuals compared to heterosexual individuals were partially explained by a path involving attachment avoidance or anxiety leading to ineffective coping strategies, with indirect effects ranging from 0.04 to 0.09 (small effect sizes). Overall, our results suggest that psychological factors, such as the cognitive or emotional representations of self and others, as well as ineffective coping strategies, may partially explain sexual orientation disparities in depressive symptoms.
AB - We tested whether sexual orientation disparities in depressive symptoms are partially explained by a path through attachment anxiety or avoidance leading to ineffective coping strategies. A convenience sample of 1290 individuals from two reliable data collection platforms (Credamo and Wenjuanxing) in China were included. Structural equation modeling was performed, with sexual orientation treated as the independent variable, ineffective coping strategies, attachment avoidance and anxiety as mediators, and depressive symptoms as the dependent variable. We found that lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) individuals reported higher levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance than heterosexual individuals, regardless of sex, with Cohen’s ds ranging from 0.25 to 0.76. For both sexes, LGB individuals reported more depressive symptoms than heterosexual individuals, with total effects (standardized regression coefficients) ranging from 0.22 to 0.26. More depressive symptoms reported by LGB individuals compared to heterosexual individuals were partially explained by a path involving attachment avoidance or anxiety leading to ineffective coping strategies, with indirect effects ranging from 0.04 to 0.09 (small effect sizes). Overall, our results suggest that psychological factors, such as the cognitive or emotional representations of self and others, as well as ineffective coping strategies, may partially explain sexual orientation disparities in depressive symptoms.
KW - Sexual orientation
KW - Attachment
KW - Anxiety
KW - avoidance
KW - Coping strategies
KW - Depressive symptoms
KW - LGBTIQ+
KW - Lesbian, gay, bisexual
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85202869416&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/00224499.2024.2394827
DO - 10.1080/00224499.2024.2394827
M3 - Article
SN - 0022-4499
JO - JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH
JF - JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH
ER -