Multiple Minority Stress and LGBT Community Resilience among Sexual Minority Men

Abstract

Minority stress theory has widespread research support in explaining health disparities experienced by sexual and gender minorities. However, less is known about how minority stress impacts multiply marginalized groups, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people of color (LGBT POC). Also, although research has documented resilience in the face of minority stress at the individual level, research is needed that examines macro-level processes such as community resilience (Meyer, 2015). In the current study, we integrate minority stress theory and intersectionality theory to examine multiple minority stress (i.e., racial/ethnic stigma in LGBT spaces and LGBT stigma in one's neighborhood) and community resilience (i.e., connection to LGBT community) among sexual minority men of different racial/ethnic groups who use a geosocial networking application for meeting sexual partners. Results showed that Black sexual minority men reported the highest levels of racial/ethnic stigma in LGBT spaces and White sexual minority men reported the lowest levels, with Asian and Hispanic/Latino men falling in between. Consistent with minority stress theory, racial/ethnic stigma in LGBT spaces and LGBT stigma in one's neighborhood were associated with greater stress for sexual minority men of all racial/ethnic groups. However, connection to LGBT community played more central role in mediating the relationship between stigma and stress for White than POC sexual minority men. Results suggest that minority stress and community resilience processes may differ for White and POC sexual minority men. Potential processes driving these differences and implications for minority stress theory are discussed.

Keywords: community resilience; connection to LGBT community; intersectionality; minority stress; stigma.

Figures

Figure 1

Mean level of racial/ethnic stigma in LGBT spaces and LGBT stigma in neighborhood by racial/ethnic group.

Figure 2

Models examining connection to LGBT community mediating the relationship between racial/ethnic stigma and stress and LGBT stigma and stress for POC participants. The c path indicates the direct effect of the independent variable (IV) on the dependent variable (DV). The a path indicates the direct effect of the IV on the mediator. The b path indicates the direct effect of the mediator on the DV. The c′ path indicates the effect of the IV on the DV after accounting for the mediator. *p < .05.

Figure 3

Models examining connection to LGBT community mediating the relationship between racial/ethnic stigma and stress and LGBT stigma and stress for White participants. The c path indicates the direct effect of the independent variable (IV) on the dependent variable (DV). The a path indicates the direct effect of the IV on the mediator. The b path indicates the direct effect of the mediator on the DV. The c′ path indicates the effect of the IV on the DV after accounting for the mediator. *p < .05.