IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v21y2024i8p1052-d1453821.html

Strategies for Coping with Minority Stress among Queer Young Adults: Usage Frequency, Associations with Demographics, and Mental Health

Author

Listed:
  • Yinuo Xu

    (School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
    School of Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA)

  • William J. Hall

    (School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA)

  • McRae Scott

    (School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA)

  • Yutong Gao

    (School of Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA)

  • Pin-Chen Chiang

    (School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA)

  • Denise Yookong Williams

    (School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA)

  • Ankur Srivastava

    (School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA)

  • Magdelene E. Ramon

    (School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA)

  • Adam R. Englert

    (School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA)

Abstract

Queer young adults report significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression than their heterosexual counterparts, which is linked to sexual minority stress. Therefore, it is important to understand the coping strategies employed by this population to navigate minority stress and how coping strategies may impact mental health outcomes. Drawing from a U.S. national diverse sample of 387 queer young adults (ages 18–39 years), we analyzed descriptive results of 11 behavioral strategies to cope with minority stress and used ordered logistic and linear regression to examine the following objectives: the frequency of the use of each coping strategy, and the associations between each strategy and demographic characteristics as well as depression and anxiety. Results revealed that avoidance and talking with friends were the most frequently utilized coping strategies, while prayer/religious activities and counseling/psychotherapy/support groups were infrequently used. We examined utilization preferences of coping strategies across demographic factors (e.g., assigned sex at birth and sexual orientation). The use of counseling/psychotherapy/support group was positively associated with mental health symptoms, while exercise and mindfulness/mediation were associated with lower mental health symptoms. Our findings provide insights for mental health researchers and professionals in selecting appropriate coping strategies for queer young adults in prevention and intervention efforts.

Suggested Citation

  • Yinuo Xu & William J. Hall & McRae Scott & Yutong Gao & Pin-Chen Chiang & Denise Yookong Williams & Ankur Srivastava & Magdelene E. Ramon & Adam R. Englert, 2024. "Strategies for Coping with Minority Stress among Queer Young Adults: Usage Frequency, Associations with Demographics, and Mental Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(8), pages 1-17, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:8:p:1052-:d:1453821
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/8/1052/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/8/1052/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Blank, M.B. & Mahmood, M. & Fox, J.C. & Guterbock, T., 2002. "Alternative mental health services: The role of the Black church in the South," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(10), pages 1668-1672.
    2. Mathijs F. G. Lucassen & Alicia Núñez-García & Katharine A. Rimes & Louise M. Wallace & Katherine E. Brown & Rajvinder Samra, 2022. "Coping Strategies to Enhance the Mental Wellbeing of Sexual and Gender Minority Youths: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-29, July.
    3. Kevin E. Levay & Jeremy Freese & James N. Druckman, 2016. "The Demographic and Political Composition of Mechanical Turk Samples," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(1), pages 21582440166, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Deena A. Isom & Hunter M. Boehme & Toniqua C. Mikell & Stephen Chicoine & Marion Renner, 2021. "Status Threat, Social Concerns, and Conservative Media: A Look at White America and the Alt-Right," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-20, July.
    2. Heidi E Brown & Erika Austhof & Paula M Luz & Daniel B Ferguson, 2023. "Economics, health, or environment: What motivates individual climate action?," PLOS Climate, Public Library of Science, vol. 2(8), pages 1-16, August.
    3. Haas, Nicholas & Hassan, Mazen & Mansour, Sarah & Morton, Rebecca B., 2021. "Polarizing information and support for reform," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 883-901.
    4. John Hulland & Jeff Miller, 2018. "“Keep on Turkin’”?," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 46(5), pages 789-794, September.
    5. Mark W Susmann & Graham N Dixon & Brad J Bushman & R Kelly Garrett, 2022. "Correcting misperceptions of gun policy support can foster intergroup cooperation between gun owners and non-gun owners," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(6), pages 1-13, June.
    6. Flordilyn L. Ates & Noel N. Pit, 2025. "Exploring the Experiences of Gay Men in Dealing with Societal Discrimination," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(6), pages 3367-3372, June.
    7. Valentina A. Bali & Lindon J. Robison & Richard Winder, 2020. "What Motivates People to Vote? The Role of Selfishness, Duty, and Social Motives When Voting," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, October.
    8. Matthew Dupre & Alexis Franzese & Emilio Parrado, 2006. "Religious attendance and mortality: Implications for the black-white mortality crossover," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(1), pages 141-164, February.
    9. Kutaula, Smirti & Gillani, Alvina & Leonidou, Leonidas C. & Christodoulides, Paul, 2022. "Integrating fair trade with circular economy: Personality traits, consumer engagement, and ethically-minded behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 1087-1102.
    10. Alexsandros Cavgias & Raphael Corbi, Luis Meloni, Lucas M. Novaes, 2019. "EDITED DEMOCRACY: Media Manipulation and the News Coverage of Presidential Debates," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2019_17, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    11. Eugene Y. Chan & Jack Lin, 2022. "Political ideology and psychological reactance: how serious should climate change be?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 172(1), pages 1-22, May.
    12. Carola Binder, 2020. "Coronavirus Fears and Macroeconomic Expectations," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(4), pages 721-730, October.
    13. Hirschauer, Norbert & Grüner, Sven & Mußhoff, Oliver & Becker, Claudia & Jantsch, Antje, 2020. "Can p-values be meaningfully interpreted without random sampling?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 14, pages 71-91.
    14. Binder, Carola Conces, 2021. "Household expectations and the release of macroeconomic statistics," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    15. Frederic Traylor & Steven Brechin & Rachael Shwom, 2025. "Comparing the effects of information on geoengineering options support across four online samples," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 178(12), pages 1-31, December.
    16. Dilshani Sarathchandra & Aaron M. McCright, 2017. "The Effects of Media Coverage of Scientific Retractions on Risk Perceptions," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(2), pages 21582440177, May.
    17. Carola Binder, 2021. "Presidential antagonism and central bank credibility," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 244-263, July.
    18. Cornil, Yann & Hardisty, David J. & Bart, Yakov, 2019. "Easy, breezy, risky: Lay investors fail to diversify because correlated assets feel more fluent and less risky," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 103-117.
    19. M. Noortgate & V. Coppens & E. Wuyts & W. Huys & A. Schuerwegen & K. Goethals & S. Coenen & M. Morrens, 2025. "Margins or mainstream: a cross-sectional study on consensual and non-consensual non-monogamy in the general Belgian adult population," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    20. Alec M Smidt & Alexis A Adams-Clark & Jennifer J Freyd, 2023. "Institutional courage buffers against institutional betrayal, protects employee health, and fosters organizational commitment following workplace sexual harassment," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(1), pages 1-25, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:8:p:1052-:d:1453821. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.