2 - (IOP 26) The Roles of Expectations of Rejection and Defensive Affect in Depression and Aggression Among Sexual Minority Adults

Sexual minority (SM) individuals are at increased risk for depression compared to heterosexual individuals. While experiences of rejection have been identified as a risk factor for adverse mental health outcomes among SM individuals, expectations of rejection also play an important role. The rejection sensitivity (RS) model proposes that the associations between expectations of rejection and adverse mental health outcomes depend on the extent to which a person experiences defensive affect (anxiety or anger) in conjunction with the expectations. However, very few studies have examined which component of RS is most strongly associated with adverse outcomes, nor whether the interactions between the components account for unique variance in outcomes. Further, all prior studies of RS in SM populations have focused solely on anxiety about rejection, limiting our understanding of the unique consequences of anger about rejection in this population. To address these gaps, the current study examined the extent to which the individual components of RS (expectations of rejection and anxiety/anger about rejection) versus the interactions between them are associated with depression and aggression in a sample of 583 SM adults who completed an online survey. Bivariate correlations indicated that both expectations of rejection and anxiety about rejection were positively associated with depression. However, when they were simultaneously tested in a regression model, only anxiety about rejection remained significant. Further, a significant interaction indicated that the association between expectations of rejection and depression was only significant at high levels of anxiety about rejection (> 2.20 SD above the mean). Bivariate correlations also indicated that both expectations of rejection and anger about rejection were positively associated with aggression. However, only anger about rejection remained significant when they were simultaneously tested in a regression model. In contrast to the other moderation finding, the interaction between expectations of rejection and anger about rejection was not significant. These findings advance our understanding of RS among SM individuals by emphasizing the critical role of defensive affect. Although we did not find a significant interaction effect for angry RS, this represents an important first step in examining how anger about rejection affects SM individuals. Additionally, these findings have the potential to inform intervention targets to improve psychosocial outcomes when working with SM patients.