The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sexual orientation disclosure and post-disclosure depression among U.S. LGBQ individuals

Abstract

Guided by the Theory of Coming Out Message Production and the Constitutive Model of Coming Out, this study explores how negative COVID-19 experiences (adverse impacts of the pandemic) moderate the effects of cognitive factors (disclosure goals, relational power, and internalized homophobia) on sexual orientation disclosure, and the effects of disclosure on mental health. Results (N = 403 U.S. LGBQ adults) showed that as adverse impacts of the pandemic increased, the positive relationship between disclosure goals and sexual orientation disclosure decreased, but the negative association between internalized homophobia and disclosure increased. Higher disclosure levels predicted lower depression one month later, only when participants reported lower negative impacts of the pandemic. Theoretical accounts for coming out message processes should consider both environmental and cognitive factors and differentiate their distinct roles in predicting disclosure messages. Moreover, the positive impacts of effective coming out seem to disappear when the pandemic heavily impacts LGBQ people’s daily lives.