#  BEST Lab research shows that higher levels of rumination, lower levels of emotional clarity, and lower levels of social support explain how experiencing interpersonal discrimination leads to increases in depressive symptoms. 

 





October 06, 2022

 

 

 Gay and bisexual men are one of the highest risk groups for depression; thus, the identification of mechanisms that contribute to this population disparity represents an important public health priority. The minority stress theory (Meyer, 2003) proposed that distal minority stressors, like interpersonal discrimination, contribute to this disparity. The psychological mediation framework (Hatzenbuehler, 2009) posited several psychosocial mechanisms through which distal minority stress creates elevations in depression among sexual minorities. Despite accumulating support for this framework, there are a number of limitations to existing research, including largely relying on cross-sectional designs; focusing on a small subset of mechanisms and moderators; and using non-probability samples. To address these limitations BEST Lab researchers recruited a sample of gay and bisexual men (N = 502) obtained from a population-based dataset of U.S. adults. Participants completed validated measures of distal minority stress (i.e., interpersonal discrimination), psychosocial mechanisms (i.e., rumination, emotional clarity, and social support), identity-related moderators (i.e., identity centrality, stigma consciousness, and sexual orientation identity), and depressive symptoms at baseline, six-month follow-up, and 1-year follow-up. Results indicated that rumination, lack of emotional clarity, and lack of social support each individually mediated the prospective relationship between interpersonal discrimination and depressive symptoms, controlling for initial symptoms, age, and education. These indirect effects were not moderated by identity-related moderators. Our study provides some of the strongest empirical evidence for the psychological mediation framework to date and suggests targets for interventions focused on reducing the mental health consequences of minority stress for sexual minority men.

 You [can read more about this study](https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2022-98051-004.html) in the *Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology*. The paper was selected as one of APA’s Editor’s Choice articles.

 Lattanner, M. R., Pachankis, J. E., & Hatzenbuehler, M. L. (2022). Mechanisms linking distal   
minority stress and depressive symptoms in a longitudinal, population-based study of gay and bisexual men: A test and extension of the psychological mediation framework. *Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 90*(8), 638–646. [https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000749](https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2022-98051-004.html)



 

 

 



 

 

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