(PS7-B43) Internalized Binegativity, Perceived Burdensomeness, and Non-suicidal Self-injury (NSSI): Dual Impact of Identity Affirmation

Bisexual+ (i.e., bisexual, pansexual; B+) individuals are at increased risk for non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) compared to other sexualities. Sexual minorities may be at increased risk because minority stressors (e.g., discrimination, internalized homophobia) exacerbate psychological processes associated with NSSI. For example, empirical findings reveal that Perceived Burdensomeness (PB) mediates the relationship between minority stress and NSSI in diverse samples of sexual minorities. Little research has explored factors that may buffer this relationship.

Identity affirmation, or feelings of self-acceptance and belonging to one’s identity, is an emerging protective factor. Preliminary research revealed that identity affirmation weakened the relationship between experiences of victimization and depression for lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals. Identity affirmation may be particularly important to protecting B+ individuals from widespread assumptions that they are either heterosexual or gay/lesbian, which may be internalized as negative feelings about their identities (i.e., internalized binegativity). We tested whether the indirect effects of internalized binegativity on NSSI via PB would be weakened at higher levels of identity affirmation.

A sample of 178 B+ MTurk workers (71.5% ciswomen; 70.8% White; 68.0% lifetime NSSI) completed measures assessing internalized binegativity, PB, identity affirmation, and NSSI versatility. Analyses were conducted using the PROCESS macro in SPSS (model 58).

There was a statistically meaningful interaction between internalized binegativity and identity affirmation (b = 0.86, CI = 0.41 – 1.31; p </span>< 0.001), suggesting that the positive association between internalized binegativity and PB strengthened as identity affirmation increased. There was also a statistically meaningful interaction between PB and identity affirmation (b = -0.07, CI = -0.11– -0.02; p = 0.002), suggesting that the positive association between PB and NSSI weakened as identity affirmation increased.

Analyses of indirect effects suggested partial mediating effects of internalized binegeativity on NSSI via PB at low (M-1SD = 3.54; ab = 0.46, CI = 0.09 – 0.89), average (M = 5.02; ab = 0.65, CI = 0.32 – 1.01), and high (M+1SD = 6.50; ab = 0.59, CI = 0.20 – 1.02) levels of identity affirmation. Pairwise contrasts of conditional indirect effects revealed the effects of internalized binegativity on NSSI via PB were not meaningfully different at varying levels of identity affirmation, suggesting no evidence of moderated mediation.

For B+ individuals, higher levels of identity affirmation weakened the positive relationship between PB and NSSI. Contrary to our hypothesis that identity affirmation would weaken the positive relationship between internalized binegativity and PB, higher levels of identity affirmation strengthened this relationship. Thus, B+ individuals who were more affirmed in their identity experienced more PB at high levels of internalized binegativity than did those who reported being less affirmed in their identity. These findings support the validity of identity-affirming cognitive behavioral approaches for clinicians working with B+ individuals to reduce the impact of PB.