(PS9-3) Family Disconnect: Perceived Parental Right-wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) as Predictors of Mental Health Outcomes in Diverse Young Adults.

Abstract Text: The family dynamics of youth and young adults with diverse identities are associated with mental health and well-being. Parent-child relationship factors can serve as either a buffer against or an aggravating force for negative mental health outcomes, especially in LGBTQ+ individuals. This study investigated how perceived parental endorsement on two measures of hierarchical, authoritarian, and exclusive sociopolitical attitudes, Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), correlate with adult child mental health outcomes. Internalizing disorder symptoms (composed of depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms) and suicidal ideation were measured as latent factors via structural equation modeling. A sample (n = 172) of people with at least one minoritized identity, primarily composed of students from a large southeastern university, was collected online. A sexual and gender minority subsample (n = 65) showed no relation between RWA or SDO mismatch and the observed mental health outcomes. However, a well-fitted model (CFI = 1.000, TLI = 1.010, RMSEA = 0.000) of non-SGM minoritized individuals (n = 108) showed a significant relation between mismatch in RWA and internalizing disorder symptomology (β = .288, p < . 01). SDO mismatch was unrelated to non-SGM mental health outcomes. Results fail to suggest that parental sociopolitical views significantly impact SGM mental health. Otherly marginalized young adults may, however, have mental health outcomes more dependent on parental sociopolitical views. This could be due to a relatively higher importance of peer and community relationships among SGM individuals though future work should seek to test this finding and find mechanisms for the observed results.