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Psychology Commons

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Clinical Psychology

University of Massachusetts Boston

Minority stress

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Psychology

A Heavy Burden: Associations Between Sexual Minority Status, Mental Health, And Bmi In Women, Alison E. A. Goldblatt Dec 2019

A Heavy Burden: Associations Between Sexual Minority Status, Mental Health, And Bmi In Women, Alison E. A. Goldblatt

Graduate Masters Theses

Sexual minority women (SMW) are at increased risk of elevated body mass index (BMI) compared to heterosexual women, which increases their vulnerability to a variety of chronic diseases. This increased risk of elevated BMI is likely due to unique minority stressors faced by sexual minority individuals, such as internalized heterosexism and discrimination. Minority stressors are associated with poorer mental and physical health among SMW, and SMW may engage in unhealthy coping strategies, like binge eating, to cope with these minority stressors. Research suggests that bisexual women, and other women with non-monosexual orientations, face elevated risks to their physical and psychological …


Healing From Heterosexism Through Expressive Writing, Kathleen M. Collins Dec 2018

Healing From Heterosexism Through Expressive Writing, Kathleen M. Collins

Graduate Masters Theses

Simply by existing within our society, LGBTQ people encounter widespread exposure to heterosexist attitudes, behaviors, and policies on a daily basis that ignore, invalidate, or outright discriminate against them. This marginalization contributes to myriad psychological consequences such as depression, suicidality, anxiety, and substance abuse. Despite the fact that LGBTQ people experience mental health issues and some subsequently seek treatment, few interventions exist that specifically address LGBTQ minority stressors; those that do exist tend to treat mental health consequences of societal heterosexism, rather than offering ways to heal from heterosexist experiences directly. In the current study, I explored the ability of …