Identifying Same-Sex Couples’ Unique Experiences of Minority Stress: A Dyadic Mixed Methods Analysis

• In Event: 432 - Section on Social Psychology Paper Session. Social Psychology in Context: Dimensions of Health, Stress, Danger, and Subjective Experience

Abstract

Social stress resulting from experiences of stigma, prejudice, and discrimination—termed “minority stress”—has been shown to negatively impact the health and well-being of sexual minority individuals. The ways in which being in a same-sex couple results in additional unique minority stressors have been theorized, but have yet to receive empirical attention. The longstanding and ever-changing social and political controversies surrounding same-sex marriage in the US likely create stressors that are not yet understood and may have important implications for sexual minority health. The present study represents a mixed methods analysis of stressful life event narratives of 120 US male and female couples elicited through an innovative relationship timeline method. Couples were distributed equally across interview site (i.e., Atlanta and San Francisco), gender (male and female), relationship duration (6 months - 3 years; 3 years - 7 years; and > 7 years). Forty percent or more of the participating couples had one or both partners who identified as a person of color. Directed content analysis of couples’ narratives revealed 17 unique couple-level minority stressors spanning structural, interpersonal, dyadic, and intrapersonal levels. These couple-level minority stressors represent an additive stress burden that members of same-sex relationships may experience in addition to their individual-level experiences of minority stress. Knowledge of these newly identified couple-level stressors is therefore needed in designing future research and effective interventions (both structural and clinical) aimed at understanding and addressing the ways in which minority stress impacts the health and well-being of members of same-sex couples.

Authors

• David M Frost, Columbia University

• Allen J. LeBlanc, San Francisco State University

• Brian de Vries, San Francisco State University

• Eli Alston-Stepnitz, San Francisco State University

• Rob Stephenson, Emory University

• Cory Woodyatt, Emory University