Integrating the Neurobiology of Minority Stress with an Intersectionality Framework for LGBTQ-Latinx Populations

Abstract

The comprehensive lived experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals of color remain invisible in neurobiological studies of LGBTQ populations. Models of minority stress posit that LGBTQ and Latinx individuals experience and internalize sexual, ethnic, racial, and gender discrimination, which may adversely impact mental and physical health. However, the current minority stress models predominantly focus on single categorical social identities and do not account for interlocking systems and processes of oppression based on features of sexuality, race, ethnicity, sex, and gender, as explained by an intersectionality framework in feminist theory. Thus, it remains unclear how LGBTQ people of color internalize and navigate multiple cultural, institutional, and societal stressors, and, furthermore, how these sources of stress may affect health and well-being. A potential mechanism for this adverse internalization process is through the effects of stress on neurobiological regulation. This review will apply an intersectionality framework to the examination of how heterosexism, racism, and cissexism, as systems of oppression, create LGBTQ and Latinx lived experiences, and the differential impacts of these inequalities on neurobiological stress regulation. The overarching goal of this manuscript is to advocate for the application of intersectionality theory to advance the ecological validity of biopsychosocial models of multiple-minority stress.

Intersectionality and Youth Identity Development Research in Europe

“…This can mean the use of scales capturing processes related to group membership, including instances of ascribed versus self-selected categorization, as well as the meaning derived from such instances. Multiple scholars have also advocated measuring the strength of one's association to social identity groups rather than static group membership (Sarno et al, 2015;Parra and Hastings, 2018). Within Latinx LGBTQ communities, for instance, it has been argued that strong Latinx identity may relate to greater exposure and engagement with anti-LGBTQ norms, whereas a strong LGBTQ identity may help to buffer the negative impact of facing such discrimination (Parra and Hastings, 2018).…”

Challenges to Identity Integration Indirectly Link Experiences of Heterosexist and Racist Discrimination to Lower Waking Salivary Cortisol in Sexually Diverse Latinx Emerging Adults

“…Models of minority stress applied to the study of sexual and ethnic/racial group membership often examine people who identify with these social groups as if their memberships are based on discrete and separable marginalized social categorical identities (Parra and Hastings, 2018). For example, a queer Latinx person typically would be examined as queer or Latinx, in the context of heterosexism or racism, respectively, but not at their different locations of an intersection (e.g., queer Latinx in the context of interacting systems of oppression).…”

“…Sexually diverse (i.e., people who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, or queer) Latinx people experience heterosexist and racist discrimination which negatively impacts their wellbeing (Rhodes et al, 2020). Social environments that are not accepting or embracing of sexual and ethnic/racial diversity are pervasive stressors which may compromise multiply marginalized people's ability to physiologically and psychosocially adjust healthfully (Parra and Hastings, 2018). The effects of pervasive social stressors are particularly concerning during emerging adulthood because this developmental period is characterized by uncertainty, heightened self-awareness (Arnett, 2000(Arnett, , 2001(Arnett, , 2004(Arnett, , 2006, sexual identity exploration and formation (Patterson, 2008;Morgan, 2013), and ethnic/racial identity exploration and formation (Erikson, 1968;Phinney, 2006;Kroger et al, 2010).…”

“…Although most individuals navigate this developmental period successfully (Arnett, 2007), emerging adulthood also is a period of escalating mental health challenges (de Girolamo et al, 2012), particularly for vulnerable and marginalized groups of people. The role of stress physiology in the links between discrimination and identity formation during emerging adulthood for sexually diverse people of color has received little empirical attention (Parra and Hastings, 2018).…”

The Evolution of Acculturation and Development Models for Understanding Immigrant Children and Youth Adjustment

“…For example, researchers taking an intersectional perspective could examine how institutional systems that perpetuate racism, classism, and sexism combine to influence and potentially marginalize immigrant youth. Researchers would not focus on a single demographic axis (e.g., experiences of discrimination based on being either an immigrant, or Latinx, or lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender [LGBT]), but on multiple axes simultaneously and not additively (e.g., experiences of discrimination based on being an immigrant, Latinx, and LGBT at the same time; Parra & Hastings, ). Rather than focusing solely on individuals and their microsystems, which may lead to a search for how to “fix” marginalized individuals and their immediate contexts, an intersectional perspective would investigate how marginalizing institutions present barriers for the positive development of immigrant children and youth (Godfrey & Burson, ).…”