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. 2024 Aug 12:10.1037/sgd0000763.
doi: 10.1037/sgd0000763. Online ahead of print.

Positive Affect Is Associated With Well-Being Among Sexual and Gender Minorities and Couples

Madison Shea Smith  1 , Judith T Moskowitz  2 , Brian Mustanski  1 , Michael E Newcomb  1
Affiliations

Positive Affect Is Associated With Well-Being Among Sexual and Gender Minorities and Couples

Madison Shea Smith et al. Psychol Sex Orientat Gend Divers. .

Abstract

Positive affect (PA) is a key determinant of well-being among sexual and gender minorities (SGMs). Despite a well-formed literature on PA's beneficial impact in other contexts (e.g., HIV care) among SGMs, little work has examined PA's interrelations with mental and relational well-being among partnered SGMs. We examined the normative trajectory of PA among partnered SGMs assigned male at birth (SGM-AMABs; N = 155) embedded in a longitudinal cohort (2008-2022) and associated this with key indices of well-being (depression, negative communication, relationship quality, dyadic coping). Next, we modeled PA's association with well-being among a subset of couples enrolled in this cohort (N = 43 dyads). Latent growth curve models suggested that PA declined over time, but that any increased PA was associated with lower depression and higher relationship quality. Actor-partner interdependence models suggested a similar health-promotive association of PA, as well as novel associations that should be the topic of future study. Collectively, these results imply that interventions designed to increase PA among SGM-AMABs should consider the dyadic context and may be successfully applied to increase SGM-AMABs' well-being.

Keywords: LGBT; couples; longitudinal; positive affect; sexual and gender minority.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Schematic of Parallel Process Latent Growth Curve Model
Note. Example included here shows relationship quality and PA; however, identical models were tested for other outcomes. PA = positive affect; T1 = Time 1; T2 = Time 2; T3 = Time 3.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Schematic of Actor–Partner Interdependence Models Including Main Effects Only
Note. Example included here shows the depression outcome as an illustration only. PA = positive affect.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Schematic of Actor–Partner Interdependence Models Including Main Effects, Plus Effects of Concordance Indices
Note. Example included here shows the depression outcome as an illustration only. PA = positive affect.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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