Social Support, Resilience, Minority Stress, and Mental Health Outcomes in Lesbian and Bisexual Women

Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the moderating effects of social support and resilience in the relationship between Minority Stress (MS) and mental health outcomes. A total of 337 women over 18 years of age (M = 26 years, SD = 17.3) participated in this study, including 42.43% lesbian, (n = 143) and 57.57% bisexual women (n = 194). The participants responded to scales that assessed internalized homophobia, victimization, disclosure of sexual orientation, subjective happiness, life satisfaction, depression, anxiety and stress, social support, and resilience. Structural equation modeling was performed to verify the impact of minority stressors on the well-being and psychopathology variables and to test whether social support and resilience moderated these associations. Results showed that resilience moderated the relationship between victimization and psychopathology. Clinical implications are discussed throughout the article.