Matching Items (3)
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- All Subjects: minority stress
- Creators: LeMaster, Benny
- Status: Published
Description
Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) individuals are exposed to specific stressors due to their sexual minority status. One such stressor may result from the negative family reactions to one’s romantic partner. Encountering this stress may be especially harmful for LGB individuals’ emotional well-being, as it could be considered a “double rejection”: that of their partner and possibly their own sexual orientation. The stress surrounding family members’ negative attitudes about their partner may affect how one feels about their partner. Furthermore, there may be individual differences that affect how an individual may perceive and respond to this stress. Specifically, one’s attachment style could either exacerbate (anxious) or weaken (avoidant) the experiences of stress, which may influence the emotions they feel about their partner. Using 14-day daily diary data from 81 same-sex couples, the purpose of this study was to examine whether there was an association between daily perceptions of stress via negative family reactions to partner and negative partner-related emotions, and whether attachment insecurity (anxiety and avoidance) moderated this association. Individuals’ perceptions of stress via negative family reactions was found to be positively associated with their reports of negative emotions about one’s partner. Anxious and avoidant attachment did not moderate the association between perceptions of stress and negative emotions due to one’s partner. The finding suggests this specific stressor on negative emotions due to partner may be an intrapersonal process, in which case couple therapists can increase clients’ awareness of this stress and how it impacts their feelings towards their romantic partner.
ContributorsBorders, Jessica (Author) / Randall, Ashley K. (Thesis advisor) / Pereira, Jennifer K (Committee member) / Mendoza, Natasha S (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
The purpose of this study is to examine the social and communicative barriers LGBTQIA+ students face when seeking healthcare at campus health and counseling services at Arizona State University. Social barriers relate to experiences and internalizations of societal stigma experienced by sexual and gender minority individuals as well as the anticipation of such events. Communication between patient and provider was assessed as a potential barrier with respect to perceived provider LGBTQIA+ competency. This study applies the minority stress model, considering experiences of everyday stigma and minority stress as a predictor of healthcare utilization among sexual and gender minority students. The findings suggest a small but substantial correlation between minority stress and healthcare use with 23.7% of respondents delaying or not receiving one or more types of care due to fear of stigma or discrimination. Additionally, communication findings indicate a lack of standardization of LGBTQIA+ competent care with experiences varying greatly between respondents.
ContributorsZahn, Jennica (Author) / Davis, Olga (Thesis director) / LeMaster, Benny (Committee member) / Watts College of Public Service & Community Solut (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Latinx sexual minority adults experience diverse types of discrimination, including heterosexism and ethnic/racial discrimination, which may contribute to worse physical health. Yet little research has examined how intersectional forms of discrimination, for example, discrimination within another marginalized community contribute to physical health. Greater experiences of discrimination can lead to greater psychological distress which may then exacerbate physical symptoms. It was hypothesized that the association between intersecting forms of discrimination and physical symptom severity would be mediated by psychological distress. Participants (N = 369) identified as Latinx/Hispanic/Latino and as a sexual or gender minority. Data were collected via a self-report web-based survey. Using structural equation modeling, this study tested two theory-informed structure equation models (SEM) proposing pathways between perceived general and within-group discrimination (i.e., Model 1 = racism and racism within LGBTQ+ community; Model 2 = heterosexism and heterosexism within ethnic/racial community), psychological distress (i.e., anxiety and depression), and physical symptom severity. Both structural models demonstrated good fit to the data. As hypothesized, heterosexist discrimination (β = .184, p = .007) and racist discrimination (β = .284, p = .001) significantly predicted higher physical symptom severity in their respective models. Depression symptoms significantly mediated the association between ethnic/racial discrimination and physical symptom severity (β = .189, p = .003). Similarly, greater frequency of heterosexism within one’s ethnic/racial community was indirectly related with worse physical symptoms severity via depression (β = .200, p = .002). No other indirect effects were significant. Findings from this study support that Latinx sexual minority adults may be at risk for discrimination from outside and within their own minority groups which has detrimental effects on health. Noteworthy, depressive symptoms appeared to mediate the effects of heterosexism in one’s ethnic/racial group on physical symptoms. These results highlight how overlapping forms of stigma have differential effects on health via psychological distress. These findings have important clinical and scientific implications in understanding how overlapping forms of discrimination affect health among Latinx sexual minority adults.
ContributorsRenteria, Roberto (Author) / Capielo Rosario, Cristalís (Thesis advisor) / Cerezo, Alison (Committee member) / Dillon, Frank (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022