Publication Date
6-1-2022
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Annals of Behavioral Medicine
Volume
56
Issue
6
DOI
10.1093/abm/kaab051
First Page
573
Last Page
591
Abstract
Background: Sexual and gender minority (SGM; i.e., non-heterosexual and transgender or gender-expansive, respectively) people experience physical health disparities attributed to greater exposure to minority stress (experiences of discrimination or victimization, anticipation of discrimination or victimization, concealment of SGM status, and internalization of stigma) and structural stigma. Purpose: To examine which components of minority stress and structural stigma have the strongest relationships with physical health among SGM people. Methods: Participants (5,299 SGM people, 1,902 gender minority individuals) were from The Population Research in Identity and Disparities for Equality (PRIDE) Study. Dominance analyses estimated effect sizes showing how important each component of minority stress and structural stigma was to physical health outcomes. Results: Among cisgender sexual minority women, transmasculine individuals, American Indian or Alaskan Native SGM individuals, Asian SGM individuals, and White SGM individuals a safe current environment for SGM people had the strongest relationship with physical health. For gender-expansive individuals and Black, African American, or African SGM individuals, the safety of the environment for SGM people in which they were raised had the strongest relationship with physical health. Among transfeminine individuals, victimization experiences had the strongest relationship with physical health. Among Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish individuals, accepting current environments had the strongest relationship with physical health. Among cisgender sexual minority men prejudice/discrimination experiences had the strongest relationship with physical health. Conclusion: Safe community environments had the strongest relationships with physical health among most groups of SGM people. Increasing safety and buffering the effects of unsafe communities are important for SGM health.
Funding Number
K01MH113475
Funding Sponsor
National Institute of Mental Health
Keywords
Community safety, Minority stress, Physical health, Sexual and gender minority, Structural stigma, Transgender
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Department
Psychology
Recommended Citation
Annesa Flentje, Kristen D. Clark, Ethan Cicero, Matthew R. Capriotti, Micah E. Lubensky, John Sauceda, Torsten B. Neilands, Mitchell R. Lunn, and Juno Obedin-Maliver. "Minority Stress, Structural Stigma, and Physical Health among Sexual and Gender Minority Individuals: Examining the Relative Strength of the Relationships" Annals of Behavioral Medicine (2022): 573-591. https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kaab051
