Rumination longitudinally mediates the association of minority stress and depression in sexual and gender minority individuals.

Abstract

Minority stress theory describes the excess stressors to which individuals from stigmatized groups are exposed as a result of their marginalized status(es), which can contribute to higher rates of depression among sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals. The psychological mediation framework expanded on minority stress theory by proposing that rumination may link minority stressors to depression. Although previous studies have shown that rumination mediates associations between minority stressors and psychological distress among SGM individuals, many have done so using cross-sectional data, despite mediation being a process that occurs over time. To address this limitation, the present longitudinal study examined rumination as a mediator of the associations of three minority stressors (i.e., victimization, microaggressions, and internalized stigma) with depressive symptoms among 1,130 young men who have sex with men (YMSM) and young transgender women (YTW). The data were taken from baseline, 6-month, and 1-year assessments from a large cohort of YMSM and YTW. Consistent with hypotheses, rumination at 6-month follow-up fully longitudinally mediated associations between victimization, microaggressions, and internalized stigma at baseline and depression at 1-year follow-up. Results suggest that rumination is an important area of intervention for clinicians treating SGM individuals who experience symptoms of depression.

Racial Discrimination Predicts Mental Health Outcomes Beyond the Role of Personality Traits in a Community Sample of African Americans

“…Rather than conceptualizing a client’s race-related distress as a product of the client’s personality and potentially pathologizing the person’s lived experience, clinicians may deliver more culturally competent care by recognizing all of the interpersonal and structural factors that may be affecting the client’s functioning. Using research on the mechanisms through which racial discrimination may be associated with mental health (e.g., rumination; Sarno, Newcomb, & Mustanski, 2020) and individual differences (e.g., coping; Berjot & Gillet, 2011; Jones et al, 2020) that may exacerbate associations with mental health (Latzman, Chan, & Shishido, 2013) may allow clinicians to develop more holistic—and consequently, more accurate—case conceptualizations.…”

“…Thus, racial discrimination may lead to a higher frequency of negative emotional experiences, which, in turn, may lead to internalizing psychopathology. This research may build on work examining mechanisms through which racial discrimination may be associated with internalizing psychopathology, including rumination (Sarno et al, 2020) and hypervigilance (Himmelstein, Young, Sanchez, & Jackson, 2015). To complement this shorter scale work, longitudinal research using children and adolescents is also critical to understanding potential mechanisms.…”

Disproportionate Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Perceived Social Support, Mental Health and Somatic Symptoms in Sexual and Gender Minority Populations

“…Among SGM individuals this pattern of rumination as an amplifying factor could be even more destructive should ruminative behaviors result in negative thought patterns that reinforce selfstigma, fear, or symptoms of depression and anxiety over time (Hatzenbuehler, 2009). Additionally, if these differences are present in this early cross-sectional data, extant literature suggests that ruminative behaviors are often central in processes of mediation and moderation and may have greater value when these types of interrelationships are examined longitudinally (Hatzenbuehler, 2009;Kaufman, Baams, & Dubas, 2017;O'Laughlin, Martin, & Ferrer, 2018;Sarno, Newcomb, & Mustanski, 2020).…”

Sexual violence victimization and suicide: Testing a coping‐mental health framework

“…Most applications of the psychological mediation framework have examined mental health outcomes among sexual minority persons, including substance use (Fitzpatrick et al, 2020; Lewis et al, 2016), anxiety and depression (Sarno et al, 2020; Schwartz et al, 2016), disordered eating (Wang & Borders, 2017), and overall mental health (Chan & Mak, 2019). Few studies have extended the psychological mediation framework to STBs as the outcome of interest.…”