The Role of Family Belongingness and Religiosity on Mental Health for Black LGBTQ+ Youth

Overview: This presentation shares findings of a study that investigated the relationship between family religiosity and family belongingness among a sample of Black LGBTQIA+ youth living in the United States and Canada. Implications for social work education and practice are provided and discussed.Proposal text: Background and

Purpose:
Research has established that a sense of belongingness to families of origin is associated with decreased psychological distress (Slaten & Baskin, 2014), and healthy psychological adjustment for LGBTQIA+ youth (Sheets & Mohr, 2009; Shilo & Savaya, 2011). Having a supportive family is important for the mental health of LGBTQIA+ youth (Mustanski et al., 2011). Black LGBTQIA+ youth report feeling rejected and isolated from their families due to their sexual minority identities (Corsbie-Massay, 2017; Kuper et al., 2014), and this distress has been associated with the religiosity of Black communities (Negy & Eisenman, 2005; Means, 2017). However, LGBQ people often report that religion is an important source of resiliency (Schmitz & Woodell, 2018) and religion has been cited as playing both a protective and significant role in the life experiences of Black individuals (Means, 2017). This study examined the effect of family religiosity on the relationships between family belongingness and depression and mental health in a sample of Black LGBTQIA+ youth.

Methods: Data and Sample: The data are drawn from a mixed-methods online survey of LGBTQIA+ youth ages 14 to 29 (n=6,309) in the United States and Canada, which focused on participants’ mental health and family and community involvement. The subsample (n=181, age M=18.1) for this analysis consists of youth identifying as Black. Youth reported a range of non-mutually exclusive sexual orientations and gender identities with 24% reporting as nonbinary or gender independent, 38% as women, 31% as pansexual, and 22% as bisexual.

Measures: Family belongingness was measured using a 5-item scale (α = .784), with a 4-point Likert response (1 = disagree a lot; 4 = agree a lot), which assesses closeness to family and openness about queer identity with family. Depression was measured using a DSM-V 2-item scale (α = .765), with a 4-point Likert response (0 - none, not at all; 4 most severe, everyday), which asks about recent depression and interest in usual activities. Self- rated mental health was measured using one item, “My mental health is:” with a 5-point scale. Religion was measured using one item, “How religious is your family?” with a 10-point Likert scale (0 = not at all; 10 = extremely). Age and gender identity were included as covariates.

Results: Two multiple linear regression models revealed that family belongingness had a negative relationship with depression (b = -.344, p = .004) and a positive relationship with mental health (b = -.906, p =.007). Family religiosity was not significantly related to family belongingness (p = > .05), depression (p = > .05), or mental health (p = > .05). The models explain 7% of the variance in depression [R2 = .071, p = .002], and 10% of the variance in mental health [R2 =.102, p < .001].

Conclusions and Implications: This small exploratory study provides insight into the role of family belongingness for an understudied population of Black LGBTQIA+ youth. Given that family religiosity was not significant in the models, implications for contemporary social work research and practice will be provided.