Resilience and Depression: The Roles of Racial Identity, Sexual Identity, and Social Support on Well-Being for Black LGB Emerging Adults

Black lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) emerging adults experience social marginalization due to the intersection of their racial and sexual identities. The current study assessed social support, racial and sexual identity, in addition to psychosocial markers among 216 Black LGB emerging adults (Mage = 22.28, SD = 3.07). Hierarchical linear regression showed that decreases in social support predicted higher levels of depressive symptomatology while increases in social support in addition to components of racial and sexual identity predicted increases in reported resilience. These findings should be used when researching and doing clinical work with this population.