Using social stress perspective, we studied the mental health effects of added burden related to socially disadvantaged status (being African-American or Latino, female, young, and identifying as bisexual versus gay or lesbian) in a community sample of 396 self-identified lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults. Mental health outcomes were social and psychological well-being contrasted with depressive symptoms. When mental health deficiencies by disadvantaged social status were detected, we examined if LGB community connectedness and positive sexual identity valence played a mediating role, reducing the social status disparity in outcome. We found different patterns when looking at social vs. psychological well-being and positive vs. negative mental health outcomes. Bisexuality and young age, but not gender and racial/ethnic minority status, were associated with decreased social well-being. In bisexuals, this relationship was mediated by community connectedness and sexual identity valence. Though no differences in social or psychological well-being were found by gender, female gender was associated with depressed mood. We conclude that there is limited support for an additive stress model.

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Cognitive behavioral intervention programs can effectively reduce the potential of HIV transmission to others among PLH who report significant transmission risk behavior.

Interventions focused on improving coping self-efficacy, bolstering social supports, and decreasing stress in the lives of HIV-positive women may help to reduce the negative effects of HIV disease on mood.

In this paper we report on a new qualitative instrument designed to study the intersection of identities related to sexuality and race/ethnicity, and how people who hold those identities interact with social contexts. Researchers often resort to using separate measures to assess race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other target identities. But this approach can miss elements of a self-system that stem from the intersection of identities, the interactions between identities and social contexts, related shifts in identity over time, and related changes in the prominence and valence of identities. Using a small sub-sample, we demonstrate how our instrument can help researchers overcome these limitations. Our instrument was also designed for economy in administration and analysis, so that it could be used as a qualitative complement in large survey research