Authors
John E Pachankis, Mark L Hatzenbuehler, Tyrel J Starks
Publication date
2014/2/1
Journal
Social Science & Medicine
Volume
103
Pages
67-75
Publisher
Pergamon
Description
Stigma occurs at both individual and structural levels, but existing research tends to examine the effect of individual and structural forms of stigma in isolation, rather than considering potential synergistic effects. To address this gap, our study examined whether stigma at the individual level, namely gay-related rejection sensitivity, interacts with structural stigma to predict substance use among young sexual minority men. Sexual minority (n = 119) participants completed online measures of our constructs (e.g., rejection sensitivity). Participants currently resided across a broad array of geographic areas (i.e., 24 U.S. states), and had attended high school in 28 states, allowing us to capture sufficient variance in current and past forms of structural stigma, defined as (1) a lack of state-level policies providing equal opportunities for heterosexual and sexual minority individuals and (2) negative state-aggregated attitudes …
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