Mikaela Robbins
Research Mentor(s): Shayan Asadi
Mentor Department: Psychology
Authors: Mikaela Robbins, Craig Rodriguez-Seijas, Shayan Asadi
Session: Session 6 (3:00pm – 3:50pm)
Presentation Type: Poster 21
Abstract
Abstract Title: A systematic review of the relationship between sexual minority internalized stigma and suicide outcomes Suicide rates are disproportionately higher among sexual minority populations relative to their heterosexual counterparts. One potential explanation for this disparity is that sexual minority individuals are exposed to unique stressors. Meyer’s Minority Stress Theory (2003) explains that sexual minorities face stressors unique from those of heterosexual individuals, which in turn relate to suicide and mental health problems. For this systematic review, these stressors are categorized into four constructs: Internalized stigma (IS), Enacted stigma (ES), Anticipated stigma (AS), and Concealment (C), all of which lead to adverse mental health outcomes such as anxiety, depression, suicide, and substance use. For the purposes of this review, we’ll focus specifically on the relationship between internalized stigma, such as internalized homophobia, on suicidal ideation and suicide attempt. We hypothesize that higher levels of internalized stigma will be positively correlated with an increase in suicide outcomes among sexual minority groups compared to heterosexual groups. Methods: We used Covidence to screen research articles with keywords matching our research question, first screening the abstracts for eligibility criteria and then reading the full texts for extractable effect sizes. Articles that met our eligibility criteria were quantitative and contained a sexual minority sample, at least one of the four minority stress exposures, and a suicide outcome. 316 articles have met the eligibility criteria and are now in the final stage, where we are extracting demographic information, minority stress measures, suicide measures, and meaningful effect sizes that demonstrate the relationship between internalized stigma and suicide. While we are still in the extraction process, we expect to see a positive correlation between internalized stigma and both suicide attempt and ideation. Overall, the goal of our review is to synthesize existing literature in the field in order to address this gap that still prevents us from fully understanding the impact of internalized stigma on these outcomes. The findings will hope to improve our understanding of mental health disparities in these communities and how best to address them.
