Depression, Identity Functioning, and Negative Affective Reactivity to Sexual- and Gender-Minority Concealment and Outness in Daily Life in a Predominantly Female Bi+ Sample

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals experience higher rates of depression compared to their peers. However, little is known about the day-to-day processes that link SGM experiences to depression. In responses from SGM young adults (N=252), who predominantly identified as bi+(sexual/romantic interest in multiple genders)cisgender women and nonbinary individuals assigned female at birth, we used multilevel structural equation modeling to investigate whether affective reactivity to SGM concealment and outness over an8-day ambulatory assessment period (4342 observations) was associated with depression symptoms, and whether there was an indirect effect of momentary identity functioning. Concealment and outness were differentially associated with self-concept clarity and SGM-identity positivity.We did not find a direct link between depression and affective reactivity, though person-centered affect linked depression and affective reactivity to concealment. This study indicates that momentary identity processes play an important role in the daily life experiences of visibility for bi+individuals.