Research

This page contains all my previous and current projects

# Close Relationships, LGBTQ+ Community #

Bias and Acuracy in Close Relationships

Stability and Change in Attachment

Sexual Identity Milestones of LGBTQ+ Population

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How Do Cultural Values and Outness Affect the Psychological well-being of Young LGBTQ+ Adults?

“Outness” has often been identified as an essential component affecting the mental health of LGBTQ+ individuals. Past research generated mixed findings regarding the association between outness and mental health, but majority of the studies demonstrated a positive association between these two variables. However, very few of them mentioned the potential role of cultural values as people from different cultures are embedded with different values that may affect their decision makings and social interactions.

Therefore, we addressed this gap in literature through a pilot and a main study. We found out that individualism significantly predicted disclosure and collectivism significantly predicted concealment. Moreover, both disclosure and concealment of sexuality were found to be significantly correlated with psychological well-being, and individualism was significantly associated with psychological well-being. A theoretical model was built to capture the whole picture and we found that both paths from disclosure and concealment to psychological well-being were no longer significant, while the remaining relationships remained unchanged, which offered us some inspirations on further improve this model.

What Do LGBTQ+ Youth Consider to be Supportive Behaviors from Their Family Members?

Family support has been identified as one of the most crucial protective factors influencing the mental health of the LGBTQ+ population in LGBTQ+ research, particularly among youth. However, existing scales in the LGBTQ+ literature were mixed, ranging from single item scales to multiple-item scales. Unfortunately, these scales didn't capture LGBTQ+ youth's experiences with their families quite accurately. Therefore, in order to get a more comprehensive understanding of what means to LGBTQ+ youth as family support, we conducted a pilot study asking LGBTQ+ undergraduate students to identify and describe the types of support behaviors they received from they family members after they came out. If they haven't come out yet, we asked them to imagine what supportive behaviors they would receive from their family members if they come out. Thematic analaysis for all these qualititave responses generated a total of 18 specific supportive behaviors. For further detail, please click here

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