A daily diary study of minority stress and negative and positive affect among racially diverse sexual minority adolescents.

Abstract

We conducted an intensive longitudinal study of sexual minority adolescents to address gaps in the literature, limitations in retrospective reporting, and test tenets of the minority stress model. We examined the frequency of daily minority stressors and their within-person associations with negative and positive affect. We also tested the moderating effects of depressive symptomology on these associations. Sexual minority adolescents (N = 94; 35.1% were bisexual; 31.9% were gender minority; 45.2% were racial/ethnic minority), ages 12-18 years old (M = 16.1, SD = 1.5), were recruited from the community and completed a baseline questionnaire and then a 21-day daily dairy (82.5% response rate). Participants experienced at least one minority stressor, with an average of 16.96 minority stressors (SD = 18.7, Range: 0-83), over the 21-day monitoring period. Some minority stressors were more commonly experienced than others (e.g., vicarious minority stress) and most participants attributed their sexual orientation to these stressors. Participants also attributed other marginalized identities to these stressors (e.g., gender identity, race). Daily minority stressors were associated with greater negative affect but not positive affect. Participants had greater negative affect on days where sexual-orientation-specific minority stressors were endorsed compared to days where minority stressors were not reported. These associations were not moderated by depression symptomology. The results underscore that minority stressors are pervasive experiences of sexual minority adolescents daily life and natural environment and they are associated with daily emotions. The findings have implications for the minority stress model and future research and interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).