Individuals who identify themselves as sexual or gender minorities report experienced and anticipated stigma known as minority stress. This stigma or stress has been consistently linked with worse mental health outcomes (e.g., depression, anxiety) compared with non-stigmatized (heterosexual, cisgender) individuals. However, little is understood about sexual minorities who also identify as gender minorities. This “doubly stigmatized” subgroup of the population may be transgender or gender-nonconforming or non-binary while simultaneously holding a non-heterosexual identity. This study sought to explore whether stigma and minority stress processes were different between individuals who identified as sexual minority/ gender majority (n=148) versus sexual and gender minority (n=167). Results revealed that individuals who were both sexual and gender minorities reported significantly more depressive and anxiety symptoms, greater minority stress, and fewer support resources. Moreover, increased minority stress (anticipated discrimination) and fewer support resources explained the disparity in mental health (bootstrapped indirect effects = -.4111 se=.1720 95%CI=-.8675, -.1634) between sexual and gender SATURDAY PROGRAM • JUNE 22, 2019 103 minority versus sexual minority/gender majority participants. Community connection was further examined as a potential moderating resource. Findings are discussed in relation to multiple stigmatized identities, the intersections of sexuality and gender identity, and the need for both future research and support resources for this population.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:etsu-works-9292 |
| Date | 22 June 2019 |
| Creators | Williams, Stacey L., Job, Sarah A., Todd, Emerson |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | ETSU Faculty Works |
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