(PS7-A18) Associations of Suicide Risk with Sexual Minority Outness

Sexual minority (SM) populations are at elevated risk for suicide risk, perhaps due to proximal (e.g., internalized stigma) and distal minority stressors (e.g., discrimination victimization). The interpersonal theory for suicide posits that interpersonal factors (e.g., thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness), as well as capabilities to enact harm (including fearlessness about death and habituation to painful and provoking experiences) together confer risk for suicide. Difficulties in emotion regulation are associated both with greater suicidal desire and minority stressors. Previous work has yielded mixed findings regarding the benefits of outness in regard to mental health in SM populations. Previous literature has demonstrated that outness may be associated with greater internalized stigma (e.g., internalized homophobia, homonegativity), we hypothesize that outness may be positively associated with greater suicide risk, and greater difficulties in emotion regulation. Given the existent literature, the present study aims to examine associations between emotion regulation difficulties and outness with suicide risk, while accounting for other risk factors for suicide. Participants (N = 94) were all sexual minority individuals (predominately bisexual [57.5%]) and were all assigned female at birth. Participants were recruited from a university campus and the surrounding community, were aged 18-46 (Mage = 22, SD = 5.04), and were predominately White (75.5%). Within the sample, 30% of individuals had a history of a lifetime suicide attempt. Participants underwent a clinical diagnostic assessment and completed self-report measures of emotion regulation, outness, suicide risk, and acquired capability for suicide. Results from hierarchical linear regressions suggest that, in step 1, there was a significant main effect of difficulties in emotion regulation on suicide risk (B=.14, SE=.03, p< .001). In step 2, there was a significant main effect of difficulties in emotion regulation (B=.18, SE=.08, p=.026) on suicide risk, controlling for suicide capability, outness, and the interaction between outness and difficulties in emotion regulation. Moreover, there was not a significant main effect of outness nor an interaction effect between difficulties in emotion regulation and outness (ps>.093) on suicide risk. Findings suggest that outness may not be associated with lifetime suicide risk in SM populations; however, future research should examine outness in relation to proximal suicide risk, as outness may be a protective or risk factor for suicide.