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Published on: September 28, 2018
Exploring the Role of Social Worldviews in Linking Interpersonal Discrimination to Suicidal Ideation Among Sexual
Objective:
Sexual minority young adults (SM-YAs) experience high rates of interpersonal discrimination, which increases their risk of suicidal ideation. However, little is known about the mechanisms that underly this association. According to the Anxiety Buffer Disruption Theory (ABDT) exposure to interpersonal discrimination can influence the development of a negative social worldview (i.e., antagonistic perceptions of others and the future of society) leading to the onset and maintenance of suicidal ideation. We aimed to test the utility of ABDT in articulating the association between exposure to interpersonal discrimination and suicidal ideation by examining the mediating role of negative social worldview.
Method:
Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling with 3 waves of data from a national sample of 670 SM-YAs aged 18 to 26 at baseline.
Results:
Analyses largely supported the proposed model. T1 interpersonal discrimination was directly associated with increases in both T2 negative social worldviews and T3 suicidal ideation. T2 negative social worldviews was also directly associated with increased T3 suicidal ideation. T1 exposure to interpersonal discrimination was indirectly associated with increased T3 suicidal ideation via increases in T2 negative social worldviews.
Conclusions:
Study results suggest that clinical and preventive interventions for suicidal ideation should target the influence of discriminatory experiences and the negative social worldviews they induce.
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