(PS1-C58) The Impact of LGBTQ+ Identity-related Abuse During Childhood on Mental Health Outcomes: The Indirect Effect of Heterosexism and Expressive Suppression

LGBTQ+ individuals experience marginalization and stigmatization (e.g., identity abuse during childhood, heterosexist experiences) that are associated with their diverse sexual/gender identities contributing to mental health disparities (Meyer 2003). The Psychological Mediation Framework (Hatzenbuehler, 2009) proposed that minority stress is associated with changes in cognitive, affective, and social psychological processes, which in turn can lead to negative mental health outcomes. The current study aimed to examine the impact of LGBTQ+ identity abuse during childhood on heterosexist experiences, and its subsequent impact on expressive suppression, which may influence the symptoms of depression and suicide behavior among LGBTQ+ individuals. Method. Participants comprised 388 LGBTQ+ identifying adults in the age range of 18 to 60 years old (M = 30.31, SD = 9.06) residing in Spain. Participant self-identify as White (n = 342, 88.8%) and to a lesser extend as Latinx (n = 30, 7.8%). Participants identified their sexual orientation as gay/lesbian (n = 204 52.6%), bisexual (n = 143, 36.9%), other (n = 41, 10.6%). Half of the participants reported being cisgender (woman: n = 122, 31.4%; man: n = 164, 42.6%), and to a lesser extent transgender (woman: n = 9, 2.3%; man: n = 28, 7.3%; and non-binary, n = 62, 16.1%). Data was collected between March to May 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two serial mediation models were carried out in Mplus 8.4. Results. Identity abuse during childhood was associated with higher levels of heterosexist experiences, (β = .46, p < .01), symptoms of depression (β = .13, p < .01), and suicide behaviors (β = .14, p < .01) but not expressive suppression. Individuals with higher levels of heterosexist experiences were more likely to report higher levels of expressive suppression (β = .17, p < .01), symptoms of depression (β = .21, p < .01), and suicide behaviors (β = .24, p < .001). Further, higher levels of expressive suppression were associated with symptoms of depression (β = .22, p < .01) and suicide behaviors (β = .05, p < .05). The serial mediation model indicated that individuals exposed to identity abuse during childhood were at a higher risk to experiences higher levels of heterosexist experiences that in turn lead to expressive suppression increasing the symptoms of depression ( β = .02 [95% CI = .001 to .033]) and suicide behavior (, β = .01 [95% CI = .001 to .032]). Implications/Discussion. Findings supported the psychological mediation framework as identity abuse during childhood lead to greater levels of heterosexist experiences, which in turn led to greater levels of suppression of emotions impacting the levels of depression and suicide behaviors. Identifying and understanding the impact of minority stressors and the association with expressive suppression and mental health outcomes may prove instrumental in procuring and implementing more targeted strategies. Additionally, marginalization experiences and mental health disparities have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic; therefore, is even more critical now to acknowledge and understand the unique vulnerabilities, and the mechanisms in order to provide equitable clinical services that are specific to LGBTQ+ individuals and the issues they face.