Specific Aspects of Minority Stress Associated With Depression Among LDS Affiliated Non-Heterosexual Adults

Abstract

A nation-wide sample of 634 previous or current members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), non-heterosexual adults (ages 18–33), were surveyed to examine how specific aspects of minority stress are individually and collectively associated with depression, and how such associations differ across sex, sexual orientation, and level of affiliation with the LDS church. When five stressors were examined simultaneously, need for others’ acceptance (NA) was the strongest predictor of depression, followed by internalized homophobia (IH). All minority stress factors were found to be individually predictive of depression and did not differ across sex or sexual orientation subgroups. Differences were observed, however, when considering current LDS status, such that participants who were no longer affiliated with the LDS church reported stronger relationships between some minority stressors and depression. Implications of religious identity salience as a potential mediator of relationships between specific stressors and depression are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• minority stress
• sexual minority
• mental health
• depression
• sexual identity
• religiosity

Notes

1. Although Christians are not the only religion responsible for the stigmatization of non-heterosexuals, non-Christian religions tend to exhibit greater variability in terms of their positions on issues of sexuality and gender (e.g., Myler, 2010).

2. Although a revised version of this measure has been published (Mohr & Kendra; 2011), at the time data were collected for the current study, the revised version was not yet available.