Longitudinal associations between internalized homophobia trajectories and psychological distress among sexual minority adults: A growth mixture model.

Scientific and technological progress has resulted in increased human life expectancy, and several modern societies show decreased birth rates and a progressively ageing population (Hantke et al., ). Portugal has one of the highest ageing rates in Europe and, as estimated by Statistics Portugal (INE) during the Census 2021, almost one quarter of the population (23.43%) was aged ≥65 years (INE, ). Whereas it is possible to remain physically and mentally healthy, the ageing process normatively poses challenges such as diverse losses (e.g., spouse bereavement, cognitive decline, limitations in independence) and a greater vulnerability to illness and functional or sensorial incapacities. Adjusting to such negative life events can be challenging and may result in impoverished quality of life and mental health problems (Murayama et al., ). Indeed, older adulthood is associated with a relatively high prevalence of psychopathology, of which depression is one of the most frequent (Andreas et al., ). In older adults, depressive symptoms can be a response to losses and stress factors normatively associated with ageing, and the literature highlights this relationship between negative life events and depression (Kraaij et al., ; Zhang et al., ). Such events may also activate attachment behaviours (Van Assche et al., ). According to the Attachment Theory (Bowlby, , , ), humans are born with an innate psychobiological and behavioural system, that is, the attachment system, that motivates them to seek proximity to others, that is, the attachment figures, who may protect and care for them when need. The attachment system starts being shaped during baby–caregiver(s) interactions and these social and affective experiences later result in individual differences in attachment security. Attachment figures who are consistently available and responsive foster a sense of secure attachment and the formation of positive working models, that is, mental representations of self and others. Securely attached individuals perceive themselves as worthy of love and care and perceive others as available and supportive. Attachment figures who are non‐supportive or inconsistent in their caregiving, however, make it difficult for a sense of security to be attained, often resulting in negative working models. Direct security seeking, that is, the primary attachment strategy, is often compromised in individuals with negative working models. This may, instead, foster the reliance on defensive secondary emotion regulation strategies (Bowlby, , , ; Shaver & Mikulincer, ).