Modeling perceived parental attitudes and mental well-being in Chinese young LGBTQ+ individuals: Investigation of weekly diary data using dynamic network analysis

Existing literature has reported negative parental attitudes toward LGBTQ+ individuals associated with their LGBTQ+ identity concealment and mental well-being. However, limited research has explored the dynamic network changes using intensive, repeated weekly diary data. This study aimed to model the associations between perceived parental attitude, anxiety, depression, and LGBTQ+ individuals' identity concealment within dynamic network analysis (DNA); 103 LGBTQ+ youth participated in the study. Participants' perceived parental attitudes toward LGBTQ+ identity and LGBTQ+ identity concealment, depression (by the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire), and anxiety (by the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire) were measured. Each was assessed four times at 1-week intervals for four consecutive weeks. The graphical vector autoregression explored the DNA of the internal relationships among perceived parental attitudes, identity concealment, depression, and anxiety. Findings in the between-subjects network revealed that poor perceived parental attitudes toward sexual and gender minorities were positively associated with depression, anxiety, and identity concealment. The contemporaneous network showed that the “expression” (one's identity concealment) was the direct trigger of “suicide” (one's depressive symptom), indicating depression was initiated earlier and subsequently exacerbated a sequence of other psychiatric reactions. The temporal network indicated that only parents' “general attitude” reduced participants' concealment (“self-disclosure”), which simultaneously stimulated mental benefits.