| Description |
Research has shown that individuals who belong to a marginalized group and who perceive discrimination based on that group membership suffer from a variety of poor health outcomes. However, many individuals belong to more than one marginalized group, and much less is known about the influence of multiple forms of discrimination on health outcomes. Several competing theoretical frameworks describe how multiple forms of stress might combine to affect health, and each of these theories has the potential to inform the literature on discrimination in multiple minority individuals. First, multiple stressors can influence health in an additive way: each additional stressor predicts health above and beyond previous stressors. Second is the prominence model: while one form of discrimination is independently damaging with regard to health, the combination of two or more forms is not significantly worse than the effects of just one. Finally, multiple stressors could also interact such that each successive stressor exacerbates or multiplies the effects of previous stressors. The current study examined the influence of multiple forms of discrimination in a population of African American lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) adolescents. The primary aim of this study was to test each of the three models described above to determine which best describes how racist and antigay discrimination combine to predict depression, suicidal ideation, and substances use in a sample of African American LGB adolescents. Participants were included in this analysis if they identified their ethnicity as either African American (n=156) or African American mixed (n=120). Mean age was 17.45 (SD=1.36). Perceived racist and antigay discrimination were each associated with depression and suicidal ideation. However, racist discrimination was prominent in the prediction of examined substance use outcomes, including binge drinking and recent marijuana use. Results reveal that both forms of mistreatment have important associations with depression and suicidal ideation among LGB African American adolescents. Racism was more strongly associated with substance use. Future intervention efforts should be targeted towards reducing discrimination and improving the social context of multiple minority adolescents. |
