Impact of Racist Microaggressions and LGBTQ-Related Minority Stressors: Effects on Psychological Distress Among LGBTQ+ Young People of Color

BACKGROUND: College students situated at the nexus of racial and sexual and gender minority (SGM) identities may experience multiple identity-related oppressions. We assessed whether racist microaggressions and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (LGBTQ)–related minority stressors (ie, family rejection, identity concealment, racialized heterosexism and/or cisgenderism, internalized LGBTQ-phobia, and victimization) are associated with greater psychological distress among SGM college students of color (SOC) (students who identified as Hispanic/Latinx and/or any nonwhite race). METHODS: Participants were a subset of SOC (n = 200) from a larger nonprobability cross-sectional study of SGM college students. Participants were recruited by using online social media platforms and university email listserves from May through August 2020. Participants completed an online Qualtrics survey using previously validated measures of minority stress, racist microaggressions, and psychological distress. Simple and covariate-adjusted multiple linear regression models were used to examine the associations between racist microaggressions and LGBTQ-related minority stressors with psychological distress. RESULTS: In simple linear regression models, racist microaggressions and all LGBTQ-related stressors (ie, family rejection, identity concealment, racialized heterosexism and/or cisgenderism, internalized LGBTQ-phobia, and victimization) were significantly and positively associated with greater psychological distress. In covariate-adjusted multiple linear regression, racist microaggressions, internalized LGBTQ-phobia, and LGBTQ-related family rejection (but not identity concealment, racialized heterosexism and/or cisgenderism, and victimization) were independently and significantly associated with greater psychological distress. CONCLUSION: Study findings reveal that racist microaggressions, along with LGBTQ-related family rejection and internalized LGBTQ-phobia, have a significant impact on psychological distress among SGM SOC. Public health leaders have an important opportunity for policy and program development and reform to address the identity-related mental health needs of SGM SOC.