Stigma-related stressors, coping self-efficacy, and physical health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals.

Abstract

Understanding and intervening to address health disparities is part of the expanding role of psychologists (Johnson, 2013). We drew on Hatzenbuehler's (2009) psychological mediation framework and Lick, Durso, and Johnson's (2013) conceptual pathways to lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) physical health disparities to test a serial mediation model in which 2 types of cognitive appraisals (proximal minority stressors and coping self-efficacy) partially account for the association between perceived discrimination and prejudice (distal minority stressor) and self-reported physical health symptoms in a nationally recruited sample of 564 LGB individuals (270 women, 294 men) who participated in a web-based survey. Results indicated that perceived experiences of discrimination and prejudice were associated with expectations of rejection and internalized homonegativity. These 2 proximal stressors were associated with lower coping self-efficacy, and the combined cognitive appraisal pathways were associated with higher levels of self-reported physical symptom severity. The pathway through emotion-focused coping self-efficacy was particularly salient in accounting for the overall mediation. Interventions to address distal and proximal minority stressors and improve emotion-focused coping self-efficacy may be particularly helpful in reducing the negative effects of stigma on physical health.

“They Think I Am a Pervert:” A Qualitative Analysis of Lesbian and Gay Teachers' Experiences With Stress at School

“…In addition to problem-and emotion-focused coping, other researchers discuss a third category called social-based coping (Cohen & Wills, 1985;Denton et al, 2014).…”

“…Social-based coping involves seeking support through one's perceived social networks (Denton et al, 2014;Moller et al, 2003). Participants identified four core ideas that fall within social-based coping: Verbal Processing, Staff Support, Social Support, and Partner Support.…”

“…Lazarus and Folkman (1984) describe two main types of coping strategies-emotion-focused and problem-focused (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). (Cohen & Wills, 1985;Denton, Rostosky, & Danner, 2014). Problem-focused coping attacks the demand directly, and emotionfocused coping helps individuals deal with the emotions triggered by the stressor.…”

“…Social-based coping refers to coping achieved when seeking support from one's perceived social networks (Denton et al, 2014;Moller, Fouladi, McCarthy, & Hatch, 2003). Meyer (2003b) states that the support from an ingroup of other LG individuals can be particularly helpful in buffering stress.…”

“…In the stress and coping literature, there are three main types of coping: problem-focused, emotion focused, and social-based coping (Denton et al, 2014;Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). In our study, the coping and resources that participants used fell mainly into social-based and emotion-focused coping.…”