@article{ref1,
title="Minority stress and mental health in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer survivors of sexual assault",
journal="Journal of Traumatic Stress",
year="2023",
author="Bedford, Carter E. and Trotter, Aoife M. and Potter, Miracle and Schmidt, Norman B.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="Extant research has shown that sexual violence disproportionately affects lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) individuals, conferring risk for the development of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and related mental health conditions. However, little research has focused on specific vulnerabilities among LGBTQ+-identified sexual assault (SA) survivors (e.g., minority stress) and their associations with post-SA psychopathology. To address this gap, we examined associations between experiences of minority stress and post-SA psychopathology in a sample of LGBTQ+ individuals who experienced SA (N = 92) and completed a battery of self-report measures. <br><br>RESULTS revealed significant differences in internalized stigma, community connectedness, alcohol use, and cannabis use across sexual orientation and gender modality groups, η(p) (2) =.08-11. Additionally, regression analyses indicated that experiences of violence and victimization were significantly associated with higher PTSS, β =.31, p =.020; anxiety, β =.39, p =.003; and alcohol use severity, β =.31, p =.027, over and above other experiences of minority stress and psychopathology risk factors. Internalized stigma was significantly associated with cannabis use severity, β =.34, p =.011. Finally, community connectedness was significantly associated with lower anxiety symptom severity, β = -.42, p =.001. Although longitudinal work is needed, findings indicate that experiences of minority stress may serve as risk or maintenance factors for post-SA psychopathology. These results offer important considerations for future treatment approaches tailored to LGBTQ+ survivors of SA.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0894-9867",
doi="10.1002/jts.22970",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jts.22970"
}