“Strong Together”: Minority Stress, Internalized Homophobia, Relationship Satisfaction, and Depressive Symptoms among Taiwanese Young Gay Men

ABSTRACT

Taiwan’s legalization of same-sex marriage affords legal status for romantic relationships between sexual minority individuals. Yet, little is known about the role of intimate relationships in the experiences of minority stress and mental health among gay men. This study tested a model where internalized homophobia mediated the association between distal minority stress and depressive symptoms and relationship satisfaction was posited as a moderator. Data came from a sample (n = 557) of Taiwanese young gay men who were in a romantic relationship. Respondents completed the scales of distal minority stress, internalized homophobia, relationship satisfaction, and depressive symptoms. Mediation and moderation analyses were performed on the macro PROCESS. The Johnson-Neyman (J-N) technique was used to interpret the moderating effect of relationship satisfaction. Results show that both distal minority stress and internalized homophobia were positively associated with depressive symptoms. Internalized homophobia partially mediated the association between distal minority stress and depressive symptoms. Relationship satisfaction had a moderating effect. The effect of distal minority stress was lower among those who reported high satisfaction in their current romantic relationship. This study suggested that a satisfying relationship provides protection for gay men’s mental health. Clinicians should attend to relationship issues when working with sexual minority clients.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all survey respondents for completing the survey. We also want to thank Professor Eric Blyth for his professional editing.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee [Early Career Scheme #27616418].