A model of intersectional stress and trauma in Asian American sexual and gender minorities.

Abstract

Intersecting minority identities may confer unique risks for stress and trauma. In this article, we reviewed extant research on the processes and outcomes of racial and sexual/gender identity-related (i.e., "intersectional") stress and trauma among the understudied population of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) Asian Americans. Specifically, we proposed a model of intersectional stress and trauma in LGBTQ Asian Americans that builds upon elements of minority stress theory for sexual minorities. Method: We used PsycINFO and other online databases and search engines to search for information in developing and describing our model. We included 84 peer-reviewed empirical, qualitative, and review/theoretical articles, as well as books, book chapters, unpublished data, and organization reports from 1970 to 2016. Results: In the model, we detail how structural oppression, cultural norms and stigma, interpersonal discrimination, internalized minority stress cognitions, and maladaptive coping and poor social support interact in contributing to negative mental and sexual health outcomes in LGBTQ Asian Americans, as a function of their intersecting racial and sexual/gender identities. Conclusions: LGBTQ Asian Americans face unique stressors that can lead to traumatization. Future research should empirically validate our model of intersectional stress and trauma, increase scientific representation of all LGBTQ Asian American subgroups, and emphasize the LGBTQ Asian American identity as multifaceted and intersectional. Finally, components of our model appear to be promising areas for intervention. However, we urge clinicians to consider the utility of treatments from the perspective of indigenous practices and healing, compared with adaptation from Western, heteronormative treatment approaches.

Associations between critical consciousness and well‐being in a national sample of college students during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…Furthermore, performing intersectional research that examines relationships between well‐being and CC among multiply marginalized youth was beyond our study scope due to limited statistical power. We support recommendations to examine intersections of marginalizing systems (Godfrey & Burson, 2018 ), particularly as youth may be subject to multiple systems of oppression (or privilege) that shape their well‐being (Ching et al, 2018 ). For example, despite Asian youth's comparatively lower levels of anxiety, Asian students who identify as sexual minorities experience increased anxiety than their heterosexual peers (Ching et al, 2018 ).…”

Microaggressions: Clarification, Evidence, and Impact

“…So it is clear from these examples that microaggressions are not randomly distributed, and some people will experience more than others for reasons unrelated to pathological personality characteristics. Further, these characteristics are not uncorrelated, and the intersectionality of identities may make some persons more stigmatized than others (e.g., a low-income Black man vs. an affluent Asian woman; Ching et al, 2018). Thus, individual differences are an important area of future study to determine what factors predispose some more than others to microaggressions.…”

“…Although there are other types of microaggressions (i.e., gender, religious, etc.) and unique intersectional stressors for people with various marginalized identities (e.g., Asian American sexual/gender minorities; Ching, Lee, Chen, So, & Williams, 2018), the focus of this article is on microaggressions connected to the target’s presumed racial and ethnic group, and so herein microaggressions should be taken to mean ethnoracial microaggressions, unless otherwise indicated. This is because microaggressions against groups that are stigmatized differently have a unique history that changes the nature of the construct in ways requiring a different understanding than what is presented here.…”

Intersectional insights from an MDMA-assisted psychotherapy training trial: An open letter to racial/ethnic and sexual/gender minorities

“…These non-Criterion A stressors include exposure to racist acts (i.e., racial trauma) and additional forms of oppression based on, or at the intersection(s) with, gender, sexuality, and other stigmatized identities (Chae, Lincoln, & Jackson, 2011;Ching, Lee, Chen, So, & Williams, 2018;Holmes, Facemire, & Da Fonseca, 2016;Pieterse, Carter, Evans, & Walter, 2010;Williams et al, 2014;Williams, Kanter, & Ching, 2018;Williams, Peña, & Mier-Chairez, 2017). For example, sexual/gender minorities of color are at risk of experiencing structural stressors such as homophobia or transphobia in their ethnic communities, as well as racism in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual+ (LGBTQIA+) community (for an intersectional conceptual model, see Ching et al, 2018). In addition, the racist War on Drugs has resulted in African Americans being disproportionately charged with drug-related offenses, despite equivalent rates of use and possession as Whites (Cooper, 2015).…”