TY - JOUR PY - 2023// TI - Affirming and nonaffirming religious beliefs predicting depression and suicide risk among Latter-Day Saint sexual minorities JO - Journal of counseling psychology A1 - McGraw, James S. A1 - Skidmore, Samuel J. A1 - Lefevor, G. Tyler A1 - Docherty, Meagan A1 - Mahoney, Annette SP - ePub EP - ePub VL - ePub IS - ePub N2 - Sexual minorities (SMs) who are current/former members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDSs) report high levels of depression and risk for suicide. Recent research has suggested that specific LDS religious beliefs may be related to these negative mental health outcomes. Using two independent online samples of current/former LDS SMs (Sample 1 = 403; Sample 2 = 545), we tested associations of affirming/nonaffirming LDS beliefs with depression and suicide risk cross-sectionally (Sample 1), and then longitudinally (Sample 2) tested if religious/spiritual struggles and internalized stigma mediated these relationships. Cross-sectionally, nonaffirming LDS beliefs were associated with higher depression, but effects disappeared when religious/spiritual struggles and internalized stigma were entered in the model. Affirming LDS beliefs were unrelated to depression and suicide risk. Longitudinally, after including earlier levels of internalized stigma, religious/spiritual struggles, depression, and suicide risk as controls, nonaffirming beliefs indirectly predicted more depression 2 months later (Time 3) through internalized stigma at 1 month (Time 2). These results suggest LDS beliefs may play an important role in the development and experience of depression for LDS sexual minorities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
Language: en
LA - en SN - 0022-0167 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cou0000659 ID - ref1 ER -