Stress from microaggressions and discrimination: A focus on Asian American, African American, Latina/o/x, and queer families.

Abstract

Marginalized groups in the United States have historically been subjected to legalized exclusion, such as the denial of education, marriage, medical care, immigration status, housing, and employment. Although Asian American, Black, Latinx, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) families have more legal protections than they did a few decades ago, they are still exposed to the toxic effects of biases held against them based on their marginalized identities. Expressions of bias and prejudice include two broad categories: overt and covert. For the better part of the past decade, researchers in this field (e.g., Nadal et al., 2016) have frequently commented on a general decline in public acceptance of overt prejudice in American society; this apparent decline led to an increased interest in studying covert forms of prejudice, including microaggressions-subtle, everyday denigrations and expressions of bias directed toward individuals with marginalized identities (Sue & Sue, 2013). This new interest exposed the nature, frequency, and impact of microaggressions, but considerable evidence now suggests that

The temporal intersectional minority stress model: Reimagining minority stress theory

“…For example, an expanding body of scholarship has expanded the minority stress model to examine how dyadic processes in romantic relationships are affected by minority stress (e.g., Green & Mitchell, 2008; LeBlanc et al, 2015; LeBlanc & Frost, 2019; Neilands et al, 2020; Rostosky et al, 2007; Rostosky & Riggle, 2017). Other scholars have examined the interplay of minority stressors between parents and children (Davis et al, 2022; Mackenzie, 2021), though more empirical work centering on families is needed to better understand how minority stress affects the well‐being of queer families. Notably, the studies cited here represent just a fraction of the scholarly work that has used MST to guide empirical studies.…”

Diversity as a Solution to Health Inequities and Disparities

“…Institutional discrimination further amplifies minority stress by inserting bigoted or prejudicial practices in executive, legislative, and judiciary functions of a society; such practices oppress groups seen as inferior, placing them at stark disadvantage (Williams, Lawrence, & Davis, 2019). Finally, interpersonal discrimination causes minority stress through emotional and cognitive dysregulations issuing from direct or indirect (i.e., vicarious) internalization of multiple personal, familial, or community-based microaggressions (Davis et al, 2022; Mereish et al, 2021; Roach et al, 2023). Such discrimination-induced minority stress leads to observed disparities in mental and physical health outcomes (Budhwani & De, 2019; Carter et al, 2019; Cave et al, 2020; Williams, Lawrence, Davis, & Vu, 2019).…”