(PS8-31) Anti-lgbtq+ Policies and the Impact on LGBTQ+ Adolescent Mental Health: The Role of Perceived Community Acceptance as a Moderator

LGBTQ+ youths often report elevated mental health concerns compared to their heterosexual, cisgender counterparts. Research focusing on the mental health of LGBTQ+ communities commonly explores outcomes and disparities through the lens of stigma at multiple levels, ranging from individual (e.g., discrimination, microaggression) to structural (e.g., policies that limit access to resources and well-being). Structural stigma literature has shown that state or county legislation, politics, and community-level events (e.g., local hate crimes) are linked to more symptoms of depression and anxiety and higher occurrence of suicidal ideation (SI) among LGBTQ+ adults and adolescents. While many mechanisms can lessen the harmful impact of structural stigma, existing studies examine the effect of individual-level protective factors, such as social support. Limited research investigates systemic protective factors, such as community support and acceptance, as a mechanism to alleviate the harm and dismantle systemic stigma. The proposed study aims to determine the main and interactive effects of state-level LGBTQ+ policies (i.e., structural stigma) and perceived community support on anxiety, depression, and SI in LGBTQ+ youths. A nationwide sample of LGBTQ+ youths (N = 216; Mean age: 16.04, 68% sexual minority, 70% Transgender and Gender Diverse (TGD)) completed an online survey and reported perceived community acceptance of LGBT identities, depression symptoms in the past two weeks, anxiety symptoms in the past week, and past-month SI occurrence. A composite score of state-by-state anti-LGBTQ+ policies from the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) will be utilized to indicate policy as a form of structural stigma. By using logistic and linear regressions, we expect to find that greater anti-LGBTQ+ state-level policies will be associated with more anxiety and depressive symptoms and a higher likelihood of SI, which would support the existing literature finding a significant relationship between state-level policies and LGBTQ+ mental health. Furthermore, we expect to find that an increased perception of LGBT community acceptance is not only linked to less anxiety and depressive symptoms and lower likelihood of SI but also moderates the harmful impact of state-level policies on mental health outcomes. We also want to explore the intersecting identities among youths (i.e., racial/ethnic identity) and any differences between sexual and gender minorities. We aim to highlight the importance of increasing community and societal-level protective factors and inform suicide prevention programs and policymakers.