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The Impact of Victimization and Neuroticism on Mental Health in Young Men Who Have Sex with Men: Internalized Homophobia as an Underlying Mechanism

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Abstract

Sexual minorities experience greater mental health issues compared with heterosexuals due to minority stressors. This study focused on the impact of victimization and neuroticism on mental health in young men who have sex with men (YMSM) and the mediating role of internalized homophobia (IH). IH refers to when a sexual minority person internalizes social bias and develops a negative view of themselves, which is a likely process through which victimization and neuroticism impact mental health. Data were collected over three time points across 12 months, with 450 YMSM (mean age = 18.9) and an 80.7 % retention rate. Two mediation analyses with bias-corrected bootstrapping using 1000 samples were conducted, controlling for age, race, and sexual orientation. Results revealed that victimization [F (9, 440) = 4.83, p < 0.001, R 2 = 0.09] and neuroticism [F (9, 440) = 12.23, p < 0.001, R 2 = 0.20] had a significant indirect effect on mental health via increased levels of IH. These findings show how external experiences of stigma and personality-level characteristics may impact YMSM in terms of their sense of self. Furthermore, these results support addressing social conditions that marginalize YMSM in order to promote better mental health through decreasing IH.

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Acknowledgments

The project described herein was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse: R01DA025548 (PIs: R. Garofalo, B. Mustanski). Jae A. Puckett was supported by a National Research Service Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (1F32DA038557).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Psychology Program, University of South Dakota, 414 E. Clark, Vermillion, SD, 57069, USA

    Jae A. Puckett

  2. Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, 625 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 2700, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Michael E. Newcomb

  3. Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Center for Gender, Sexuality and HIV Prevention, 225 E. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Robert Garofalo

  4. Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Medical Social Sciences, 625 N Michigan Ave, Suite 2700, Chicago, IL, 60657, USA

    Brian Mustanski

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  1. Jae A. Puckett
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  2. Michael E. Newcomb
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  4. Brian Mustanski
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Correspondence to Michael E. Newcomb.

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All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Puckett, J.A., Newcomb, M.E., Garofalo, R. et al. The Impact of Victimization and Neuroticism on Mental Health in Young Men Who Have Sex with Men: Internalized Homophobia as an Underlying Mechanism. Sex Res Soc Policy 13, 193–201 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-016-0239-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-016-0239-8

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