The Impact of General and Religious/Spiritual Minority Stressors on LGBTQ Spiritual Health

A great deal of research has focused on the impact of minority stress on the mental and physical health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals, but little is known about how minority stress impacts spiritual health. The purpose of this study was to develop a new theory of LGBTQ spiritual health. Another purpose was to explore how the impact of minority stress, such as discrimination, differs in everyday settings vs religious/spiritual (R/S) settings. A total of 227 LGBTQ participants were recruited online using a Prolific Survey Panel. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine: (a) if minority stressors were associated with LGBTQ spiritual health, (b) whether minority stressors have a different impact on spiritual health depending on whether it is in an everyday or R/S setting, and (c) whether proximal and distal stressors have a different effect on spiritual health. Results revealed that internalized homophobia and discrimination were associated with more spiritual distress, and religious hypervigilance enhanced this effect. Additionally, identity integration and spiritual well-being were unexpectedly associated with more spiritual abuse and discrimination, respectively. The implications of this study suggest that exposure to minority stressors in religious spaces may affect more than sense of belonging in LGBTQ individuals; it may negatively affect their spirituality as well, which is relevant for counselors in both clinical and religious settings.