A Both/And Approach to Conceptualizing Multiple Minority Stress in Sexual and Racial Minorities

The present study used both additive and intersectionally informed approaches to examine the associations of sexual and racial minority stress and problematic drinking, and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration and victimization. The minority stress model posits that minorities experience stressors related to their marginalized identities that lead to health disparities. Previous research has examined the association between minority stress and both alcohol use and IPV in sexual minorities; however, it has largely neglected to study the association of stressors related to the multiple stigmatized identities of people who identify as both a sexual and racial minority. Moreover, research that examines both sexual and racial minority stressors has tended to use either an additive or holistic intersectional approach but has largely neglected to utilize both approaches in the same study. The present study was designed to address these limitations. Cisgender sexual and racial minorities (n = 349) were recruited through an online panel service. Participants completed an online survey that assessed multiple racial and sexual minority stressors, problematic drinking, and IPV perpetration and victimization. Modeling sexual and racial minority stressors additively revealed differential relationships between sexual, racial, distal, and proximal minority stressors and outcomes. Results also supported a two-factor (distal and proximal minority stress) model that included intersectional constructs of both racial and sexual minority stressors. These constructs were positively related to problematic drinking and IPV perpetration and victimization and produced qualitatively larger associations than the additive model, supporting the use of intersectional approaches in the quantitative study of sexual minority health.