Heterosexism and health: Exploring the relationship between LGBTQ+ minority stress and somatic symptoms

Gender and sexual minorities (GSMs) experience poorer health outcomes compared to their cisgender, heterosexual counterparts, and the minority stress theory could explain these differences. A variety of individual minority stressors (e.g., vigilance, harassment and discrimination, gender expression, parenting, victimization, family of origin, vicarious trauma, isolation, and HIV/AIDS) are related to health outcomes. Yet, the comparative weight these stressors have on health outcomes is not fully understood, as few studies have directly compared these stressors within a single sample. Thus, the present study investigates the relationship between nine individual minority stressors and health outcomes (i.e., somatic symptoms) within a single sample (N = 115) of LGBTQ-identifying adults residing in the US. Online self-report questionnaires were used in simultaneous multiple regression, and results indicated that the nine minority stressors accounted for significant variability in somatic symptoms (F[11, 99] = 3.36, p < .001, R2 = .272). Family of origin (β =.22, p=.04) and vicarious trauma (β =.21, p=.04) accounted for significant variance in somatic symptoms. Findings suggest that family-based stigma and vicarious trauma may be two of the most crucial minority stress domains contributing to health outcomes, elucidating the need for increased policy and intervention efforts focused on improving family support and decreasing exposure to secondary trauma.