Emotional Regulation and Loneliness: Comparing the Experiences of Elderly Heterossexual and LGBTQIA+ People

• Grant number: 23/18428-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2024
• End date: July 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Social Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Joan Barham
• Grantee: Arthur Fornazari Gabas
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The aging process involves social, physical, and psychological changes over the lifecourse, but is experienced in a unique way by each individual. When thinking about identity and old age, an important and understudied population is that of the LGBTQIA+, due to systematic differences in their lives which can lead to perceptions of greater loneliness in comparison with heterosexual and cisgender people. Meaningful interpersonal relationships are a protective factor against loneliness, and are constructed using skills such as emotional regulation. Thus, in this research project, the use of emotional regulation strategies, the perception of the quality of relationships and perceptions of loneliness in old-aged people will be evaluated to determine whether these constructs and experiences are related to each other and whether they are experienced differently in the heterosexual and cisgender and the LGBTQIA+ populations. Study participants will include people aged 50 or over from both these populations. Data will be collected using the following instruments: the UCLA Brazilian Loneliness Scale, the Emotional Self-Regulation Scale - Adult Version (N = 60), and an interview (N = 10) to explore the experiences and relationships of these people. In addition to verifying the relationships between scores on the subscales of the loneliness and emotional regulation instruments, a content analysis of the interviews and comparisons between groups will be carried out. It is expected that the LGBTQIA+ population will report more difficulties in maintaining their relationships, leading to a greater frequency of use of maladaptive emotional regulation strategies and perceptions of greater loneliness, in addition to less intergenerationality in their support networks.