Does Outness Function the Same for All Sexual Minority Youth? Testing Its Associations With Different Aspects of Well-Being in a Sample of Youth With Diverse Sexual Identities

Public Significance Statement Outness was associated with lower depression for gay/lesbian youth as well as higher self-esteem for gay/lesbian and bisexual youth, but it was associated with higher depression for questioning youth. Providers, educators, and others involved in caring for youth need to recognize that being open about one's sexual identity can have benefits for some youth but negative consequences for others. While research generally supports that greater outness about one's sexual identity is associated with improved well-being, emerging evidence suggests that outness may have negative consequences for bisexual individuals. Yet few studies have examined sexual identity as a moderator of the associations between outness and well-being, especially among youth. As such, the role of outness in the mental health of diverse sexual minority youth (including pansexual, queer, questioning, and asexual youth) remains unclear. Thus, we examined how the associations between outness and well-being differed as a function of sexual identity in a sample of sexual minority youth. Using data from the LGBTQ National Teen Study (N = 11,225), we tested sexual identity as a moderator of the associations between outness and well-being (depression and self-esteem). In the full sample, greater outness was significantly associated with lower depression and higher self-esteem. However, these associations were significantly different for gay/lesbian versus questioning youth. Greater outness was associated with lower depression and higher self-esteem for gay/lesbian youth yet was associated with higher depression and was not associated with self-esteem for questioning youth. The association between outness and self-esteem was also significantly different for gay/lesbian versus bisexual youth. Greater outness was associated with higher self-esteem for both groups, but the association was stronger for gay/lesbian youth. These findings suggest that outness may have benefits for gay/lesbian and bisexual youth, yet it may have negative consequences for questioning youth. These findings can inform efforts to promote positive sexual identity development and well-being of sexual minority youth.