The Impact of Minority Stress on Mental Health and Substance Use Among Sexual Minority Women

By K. Lehavot, Jane M. Simoni. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2011

654 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Objective We examined the direct and indirect impact of minority stress on mental health and substance use among sexual minority women. Method A combination of snowball and targeted sampling strategies was used to recruit lesbian and bisexual women (N = 1,381) for a cross-sectional, online survey. Participants (M age = 33.54 years; 74% White) completed a questionnaire assessing gender expression, minority stressors (i.e., victimization, internalized homophobia, and concealment), social–psychological resources (i.e., social support, spirituality), and health-related outcomes. We used structural equation modeling to test associations among these factors, with gender expression as an antecedent and social–psychological resources as a mediator between minority stress and health. Results The final model demonstrated acceptable fit, χ2(79) = 414.00, p < .05, confirmatory fit index = .93, Tucker–Lewis index = .91, standardized root-mean-square residual = .05, root-mean-square error of approximation = .06, accounting for significant portions of the variance in mental health problems (56%) and substance use (14%), as well as the mediator social–psychological resources (24%). Beyond indirect effects of minority stress on health outcomes, direct links emerged between victimization and substance use and between internalized homophobia and substance use. Conclusions Findings indicate a significant impact of minority stressors and social–psychological resources on mental health and substance use among sexual minority women. The results improve understanding of the distinct role of various minority stressors and their mechanisms on health outcomes. Health care professionals should assess for minority stress and coping resources and refer for evidence-based psychosocial treatments.

Subfields: Infectious Diseases, Social Psychology, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/7d48cec3b9fd2657bbe5263af5a57872e45d5d76

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Citations in the corpus

Minority Stress and Physical Health Among Sexual Minorities (2013, background): “Subsequent studies have buttressed this negative association between minority stress and psychological well-being in LGB communities (DiPlacido, 1998; Hatzenbuehler, Nolen-Hoeksema, & Erickson, 2008; Kimmel & Mahalik, 2005; Kuyper & Fokkema, 2010, 2011; Lehavot & Simoni, 2011).”
Daily exposure to negative campaign messages decreases same-sex couples’ psychological and relational well-being (2016, positive): “…to create strain on individuals’ ability to adapt to and function in their everyday environments and are therefore associated with decreased mental health and well-being (Fingerhut, Peplau, & Gable, 2010; Kuyper & Fokkema, 2011; Lehavot & Simoni, 2011; Mays & Cochran, 2001; Meyer, 1995).”
A Framework for Incorporating Minority Stress Theory into Treatment with Sexual Minority Clients (2014, background): “Another study (Lehavot & Simoni, 2011) showed that social support and spirituality mediated associations between minority stressors (i.e., sexual orientation victimization, internalized homophobia, and concealment) and mental health among lesbians, though there were direct links between…”
Experiences of femme identity: coming out, invisibility and femmephobia (2015, positive): “Although Levitt et al. (2003) made mention of the notion of femmephobia, or femmebashing, and provided some examples of how the femmes from their butch–femme community sample sometimes felt their sexuality was treated as inauthentic or that they were belittled as a result of their femininity, very l”
Minority Stressors and Psychological Distress in Transgender Individuals (2017, positive): “A version of this scale has shown good validity and internal reliability for sexual minority women (Lehavot & Simoni, 2011) and been used with sexual minority men, although psychometric data were not provided (D'Augelli, 2006).”