Comparing Emotional Regulation, Jealousy, and Intimate Partner Violence Differences Between Sexual Minority and Heterosexual Individuals at the Onset of COVID-19

Objective: Prior research indicates that sexual minorities suffer from higher rates of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse than their heterosexual counterparts. There are many different sources of these differences, including discrimination, self-esteem, acceptance from others, and many other factors. We sought to extend this idea to understand how emotional regulation, jealousy, and IPV among sexual minority individuals compared to heterosexual individuals. Method: Participants included 214 Qualtrics Panel respondents who completed a survey between April and May 2020. This study compared Lesbian Gay and Bisexual (LGB) participants to a matched sample of heterosexual participants (matched by age and gender). Participants completed an online study asking about their overall demographic characteristics, alcohol use, and stress concerning COVID-19. Results: Sexual minority individuals have a significantly more difficult time regulating emotions and reported higher jealousy than heterosexual individuals. There were marginally significant results indicating that sexual minorities suffer from more IPV than their heterosexual pairs. Discussion: Results for emotional regulation and jealousy provided support for hypotheses. However, the IPV data was not significant as expected. The differences between the sexual minority and heterosexual individuals may be more likely to emerge with a larger sample. COVID-19 may exacerbate the already elevated stress experienced by sexual minorities. Future studies are encouraged to increase their sample size to ascertain more significant results to determine the need for tailored LGB community resources