The Correlation between Internalized Homophobia between Emotional Regulation, Perceived Social Support and Suicidal Ideation in Gay and Lesbian Community

Abstract

This study studies the correlation Internalized Homophobia between Emotional Regulation, received or felt social backing and thoughts related to suicidal in Gay as well as Lesbian Community. Young adults (N = 46) participants were selected from only Gay and Lesbian community, through snowball and purposive sampling, 28 gays and 18 lesbians participated. The participants were highly educated, where 45.1% were post graduates, 27.5% were undergraduates, 25.5% were graduates and 2% completed high school. The findings revealed a moderate positive correlation between IH and Suicidal Ideation, indicating that individuals with higher IH tend to experience more suicidal thoughts. Additionally, feeling supported socially by friends was negatively correlated with IH, suggesting that stronger friend support is linked to lower IH. However, the correlations between IH and Emotional Regulation, as well as between Emotional Regulation and Suicidal Ideation, were found to be insignificant. The study also found that there was a negative correlation in between the social support felt or received from significant and thoughts which are suicidal. The study finding tells us that IH along with promoting social support, to mitigate mental health risks among LGBTQ+ individuals. Further research is needed to confirm these relationships and develop effective interventions.