We can't “just deal with it”: Emotion regulation may not be an effective protective factor against adverse experiences in LGBTQ + adolescents

Abstract Despite known disparities in both adverse experiences and well‐being between LGBTQ+ and cisgender/heterosexual youth, research on how LGBTQ+ youth may differently regulate negative emotions and cope with adverse experiences is scant. In a sample of 459 12‐ to 17‐year‐old Canadian adolescents, we tested whether emotion regulation capacities and the use of specific regulation strategies differently affected LGBTQ+ v. cisgender/heterosexual youth's well‐being and/or differently moderated the association between adverse experiences and well‐being. Additionally, we examined developmental differences in these associations between early and middle adolescence. Having effective emotion regulation and a tendency to use engagement strategies over disengagement strategies were associated with better well‐being for both LGBTQ+ and cisgender/heterosexual youth. However, they only buffered the association between adverse experiences and well‐being for cisgender/heterosexual youth, not for LGBTQ+ youth. No significant developmental differences were detected. This may suggest that although having effective emotion regulation and using engagement v. disengagement strategies confer similar promotive effects on well‐being across youth, they do not protect LGBTQ+ youth from the negative effects of adverse experience the way they do for cisgender/heterosexual youth.