Parasocial relationships and depression among LGBQ emerging adults living with their parents during COVID-19: The potential for online support.

Abstract

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) youth continue to be disproportionately at risk for depression. During COVID-19 social distancing, LGBQ youth who live with family may be more consistently exposed to potentially discriminatory family situations, and may receive reduced community and mental health support. However, the Internet offers opportunities to interact with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities by watching videos of, and developing one-way relationships-or parasocial relationships-with, LGBTQ media personalities on platforms such as YouTube. The current study explored how parasocial relationships with LGBTQ YouTubers may moderate the links between family support, loneliness, and depression symptoms among LGBQ emerging adults living with their parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 183 LGBQ emerging adults (age 18 -23) was recruited from the United States in mid-July 2020. Results of a moderated mediation regression indicated that parasocial relationship strength moderated the links between family support and loneliness, and loneliness and depression symptoms. The associations between family support and loneliness, and between loneliness and depression symptoms, were weakened by high parasocial relationship strength. These findings contribute to understanding parasocial relationships' connections to well-being among marginalized groups during a crisis and highlight the potential of online solutions to emerging mental health disparities being experienced by LGBQ youth disproportionally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Public Significance StatementParasocial relationships are one-way relationships with media personalities that may have associations with well-being for socially marginalized groups. In our study, high parasocial relationship strength weakened the associations between family support and loneliness, and between loneliness and depression, among LGBQ emerging adults living with their parents during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Love in Quarantine: Sexting, Stress, and Coping During the COVID-19 Lockdown

“…Risky and emotional sexting did not vary by age because, as other problematic behaviors (Marengo et al, 2019 ), they may depend on individual traits rather than developmental factors. LGB+ participants (vs. heterosexuals) reported more sexting in all dimensions, confirming their vulnerability to risky sexual behaviors (Nappa et al, 2021 ), and suggesting that they might have used online communication more often during lockdown, to escape unsupportive family environments (Woznicki et al, 2020 ). Moreover, participants who were single reported more risky and emotional sexting—suggesting their emotional vulnerability during home-confinement, and their attempts to substitute casual sex with online encounters.…”

“…An increase in sexting during lockdown was also specifically registered among sexual minorities (Nelson et al, 2020 ). Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youths may have been more at risk for distress during lockdown, because they were home-confined with their families, who could be unwelcoming toward their sexual orientation (Woznicki et al, 2020 ). Therefore, these youths might have turned to the online dimension to communicate with friends, to find emotional support, and also to express their sexuality during home-confinement (Eleuteri & Terzitta, 2021 ; Woznicki et al, 2020 ).…”

A descriptive literature review of early research on COVID-19 and close relationships

“…However, online access to resources and support provided a much-needed outlet, particularly to LGTBQ+ youth (e.g., Fish et al, 2020 ). Specifically, engaging in parasocial relationships with LGBTQ+ YouTubers may buffer emerging adults who were living with their parents during COVID-19 against greater loneliness related to lower family support ( Woznicki et al, 2020 ). Future research should accordingly explore avenues to expand social support (e.g., via technology mediated communication) to at-risk or vulnerable groups, such as LGBTQ+ individuals, in order to better support them amidst crises that may isolate them from their traditional support networks.…”

The A(ffect) B(ehavior) C(ognition) D(ecision) of parasocial relationships: A pilot study on the psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Measure of Parasocial Relationships (MMPR)

“…We argue that this multidimensional structure of commitment to parasocial relationships as a unified phenomenon, might help us to better understand how and why social media figures influence our feelings, thoughts, behaviors, and decisions. We find this important since parasocial relationships and social media have both positive [ 27 , 28 ] and negative effects on mental health [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ], physical health [ 33 , 34 , 35 ], and cultural norms [ 2 ]. For instance, social interactions generally accompany commitment to social norms [ 2 , 36 ], therefore, targeting the four dimensions of commitment to parasocial relationships by the acculturalization and enhancement of internal values through social media might help to address the low levels of self-esteem accompanied by such relationships and interactions.…”