Psychological Distress in Sexual Minorities: Examining the Roles of Self-Concealment and Psychological Inflexibility

Abstract

The present cross-sectional study investigated whether selfconcealment and psychological inflexibility were associated with a range of psychological distress in sexual minorities and whether the associations between self-concealment and distress were established, in part, though psychological inflexibility. Participants were 100 college students (n female = 74) who self-identified their sexual orientations as "homosexual" or "bisexual." Both self-concealment and psychological inflexibility were significantly and positively associated with general psychological distress, somatization, depression, and anxiety. Furthermore, results revealed that selfconcealment is associated with these four distress variables at least partly through psychological inflexibility.

The effect of counselling programmes involving expressive activities with semi‐structured groups on self‐concealment levels of adolescents

“…A positive correlation between self‐concealment and psychological issues, such as depression and anxiety, was reported by the supporting literature (Kawamura & Frost, ; Leleux‐Labarge et al, ; Mendoza et al, ). The studies on the effects of expressive therapies on psychological issues show that psycho‐training programmes for emotional expression have been effective on alleviating the symptoms such as depression, anxiety and stress (Çutuk, ).…”

“…In the literature, no study was encountered on the effect of psychological counselling programmes with semi‐structured groups involving expressive activities. On the other hand, several studies have been conducted on the relationship between self‐concealment and psychological issues such as depression and anxiety (Kawamura & Frost, ; Leleux‐Labarge et al, ; Mendoza et al, ), well‐being (Deniz, ; Jıng et al, ; Uysal et al, ) and physical–psychological health (Friedlander et al, ; Masuda et al, ; Wheaton et al, ) variables. The related results show that expressive therapies have a positive effect on these concepts related to depression, anxiety (Çutuk, ; Demir & Yıldırım, ; Tunç, ), well‐being (Karataş, ; Kaya, ) and physical–mental health (Özcan, ; Paice, Nainis, Ratner, Wirth, & Lai, ; Sarandöl, Akkaya, Eracar & Kırlı, ; Siegel, Iida, Rachlin, & Yount, ).…”

“…This notion is supported by a number of studies which revealed a negative correlation between self‐concealment and life satisfaction (Çelik, ; Wang, 2011) and well‐being (Deniz, ; Jıng, Lıng, & Lıjuan, ; Uysal, Lin, & Knee, 2010). On the other hand, a positive correlation was reported between self‐concealment and physical–mental health (Friedlander, Nazem, Fiske, Nadorff, & Smith, ; Masuda, Wendell, Chou, & Feinstein, 2010; Masuda, Boone, & Timko, ; Wheaton, Sternberg, McFarlane, & Sarda, ) and psycological distress (Kawamura & Frost, ; Leleux‐Labarge, Hatton, Goodnight, & Masuda, ; Mendoza, Goodnight, Caporino, & Masuda, ). The related studies also revealed that high self‐concealment levels result in low help‐seeking behaviour (Cepeda‐Benito & Short, ; Cramer, ; Liao, Rounds, & Klein, ; Masuda, Anderson, & Edmonds, ; Omori, ).…”

The impact of work stress on sexual minority employees: Could psychological flexibility be a helpful solution?

“…Both of these sets of results are consistent with those obtained in this study. Leleux‐Labarge et al () examined the role of psychological flexibility and psychological distress in sexual minorities in general (not in the workplace) and concluded that participants who reported higher psychological flexibility also reported lower general psychological distress, somatization, depression, and anxiety. Their results are also consistent with those reported here.…”

“…All items were reversed scored such that a higher score on this measure was indicative of greater psychological flexibility. The AAQ‐II has been previously used within sexual minority samples (e.g., Leleux‐Labarge, Hatton, Goodnight, & Masuda, ; Yadavaia & Hayes, ). The internal consistency for the current study was excellent ( α = .94).…”