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Family and Work Influences on Stress, Anxiety and Depression Among Bisexual Latino Men in the New York City Metropolitan Area

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Abstract

The empirical exploration of mental health problems among bisexual Latino men is scarce. Bisexual men experience stress because of their non-conforming sexuality from multiple-sources. In this study we focus on the family and work environments. We conducted a mixed-methods study to examine the impacts of these social environments among behavioral bisexual Latino men in New York City (N = 142). Using the Brief Symptom Inventory we measured stress, depression, and anxiety, and used specific scales to measure familial and work social environmental stress factors. We also measured four cultural factors to assess their potential influence on our hypothesized stressors. To test our hypothesis we used linear regression with stress, depression and anxiety as the primary outcome variables. Our results indicated that bisexual Latino men experienced negative mental health outcomes due to pressures in their familial and work environments. Stress was the strongest predictor of anxiety and depression among the men in the study. After taking stress into account, familial factors were stronger predictors of negative mental health outcomes than work factors. Cultural factors such as acculturation and length of living in the United States were not associated with negative mental health outcomes in our sample. Our findings suggest the importance of addressing stress, anxiety and depression among behaviorally bisexual men, and suggest that addressing family-based stressors is critical for this population. This research should inform future studies addressing this underserved population and provide mental health providers with a foundation for working with bisexual Latino men.

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Acknowledgments

This article is based on data collected from the research study entitled, “Gender, Power, and Latino Men’s HIV Risk,” a project sponsored by the US Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (Grant Number: 1R01HD-056948-01A2; 2009–2014; principal investigator, Miguel Muñoz-Laboy, DrPH). We would like to thank our research participants and the members of our research team. The content of this article is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the US Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development or the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, College of Public Health, Temple University, 1301 Cecil B. Moore Ave, 5th Floor Ritter Annex, Rm 549, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA

    Miguel Muñoz-Laboy

  2. School of Social Work, College of Public Health, Temple University, 1301 Cecil B. Moore Ave, 5th Floor Ritter Annex, Rm 553, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA

    Alexandra Ripkin & Nicolette Severson

  3. Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W 168th Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Jonathan Garcia

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  1. Miguel Muñoz-Laboy
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Correspondence to Miguel Muñoz-Laboy.

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Muñoz-Laboy, M., Ripkin, A., Garcia, J. et al. Family and Work Influences on Stress, Anxiety and Depression Among Bisexual Latino Men in the New York City Metropolitan Area. J Immigrant Minority Health 17, 1615–1626 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015-0220-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015-0220-2

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