Citation

McDonald SE, Murphy JL, Tomlinson CA, Matijczak A, Applebaum JW, Wike TL, Kattari SK. Youth Soc. 2022; 54(2): 240-261.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0044118X21990044

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study examines the role of human-animal interaction (HAI) in relations between sexual and gender minority (SGM) stress, personal hardiness, and psychological stress during emerging adulthood. Data for the current sample reflect 136 SGM emerging adults between the ages of 18 to 21 years who reported living with a companion animal in the past year (37.5% racial/ethnic minority, 49.2% transgender or gender -expansive, 98.5% sexual minority). Mediation was tested using structural equation modeling with a bootstrapping approach. We found evidence of an indirect effect of microaggressions on personal hardiness. Specifically, increases in microaggressions were associated with increases in HAI; in turn, increases in HAI were associated with higher levels of personal hardiness. No other statistically significant indirect effects were identified in our model. We discuss the implications of these findings for enhancing community capacity to empower and facilitate successful coping among SGM emerging adults.

Language: en

Keywords

companion animals; coping; LGBTQ; microaggressions; minority stress; resilience; victimization