ABSTRACT

Sexual minority men have consistently shown to be at-risk for adverse mental health outcomes due to minority stress, yet studies show some men successfully navigate these barriers. What is less known are the environmental and social/emotional factors to which minority stress is amplified (or attenuated). We comparatively investigate rural versus urban sexual minority men and how levels of ‘outness’ (the degree to which an individual discloses their sexual identity to others around them) interacts with gay-related rejection anxieties (a specific type of minority stress). Results broadly show that 1. higher levels of gay-related rejection are statistically associated with higher levels of loneliness, and 2. outness moderated this link in rural, but not urban men. In other words, higher levels of outness amplified the deleterious effects of gay-related rejection in the rural sample only. Although previous research shows mixed results in regards to how coming out affects the mental health of sexual minority men, our stratified results show that rural men may be at a higher risk for deleterious mental health with higher levels of outness. Implications from this study bolster the mental health field, particular mental health practitioners working with rural sexual minority men and the aftermath of coming out.

摘要

由于少数群体的压力，性少数男性一直面临着不良心理健康结果的风险，但研究表明，一些男性成功地克服了这些障碍。鲜为人知的是少数群体压力被放大（或减弱）的环境和社会/情感因素。我们比较调查了农村和城市的性少数男性，以及“外在”水平（个人向周围其他人透露其性身份的程度）如何与同性恋相关的拒绝焦虑（一种特定类型的少数压力）相互作用。结果广泛表明，1. 与同性恋相关的拒绝程度较高与孤独程度较高在统计学上相关，2. 外在缓解了农村男性的这种联系，而不是城市男性。换句话说，更高水平的外在性仅在农村样本中放大了与同性恋相关的拒绝的有害影响。尽管先前的研究显示出柜如何影响性少数男性的心理健康的结果喜忧参半，但我们的分层结果表明，农村男性可能面临更高的有害心理健康风险和更高水平的外在。这项研究的意义加强了心理健康领域，特别是与农村性少数男性一起工作的心理健康从业者以及出柜的后果。