When young adult men who have sex with men seek partners online: Online discrimination and implications for mental health.

Abstract

Online partner-seeking applications are sexual-identity affirming social spaces commonly accessed by young men who have sex with men (YMSM; ages 18 -24 years). Yet, prior studies with YMSM have observed sexual discrimination based on race/ethnicity and physical appearance to be common within these platforms. Few studies have explored the associations between online discrimination when partner-seeking and mental health. Our study's objective was to describe the prevalence of online sexual discrimination and test its associations with self-esteem and depression. We included cross-sectional data from the baseline survey of a web-based, HIV-prevention prospective randomized controlled trial for single YMSM (N ϭ 172) who reported seeking partners online. A national sample was recruited online from popular social and sexual networking sites. Using multivariable linear regressions, we tested the respective associations that race-based and appearance-based sexual discrimination had with self-esteem and depressive symptoms. We conducted stratified models by race/ethnicity (White vs. minority participants) and BMI categories (under-/normal weight vs. overweight/obese). Over 30% were exposed to race-based sexual discrimination and over 60% to appearance-based sexual discrimination. Weight-based sexual discrimination was associated with lower self-esteem. This association remained statistically significant in stratified models for racial/ethnic minority and overweight/obese participants only. Weightbased discrimination was positively associated with depressive symptoms among racial/ethnic minority YMSM. Our study highlights the potential contribution of weight-based discrimination when seeking partners online on YMSM's mental health. Coupled with community-level interventions to raise awareness about weight-related stigma, partner-seeking platforms should capitalize on opportunities for mass-media marketing strategies to promote body-type diversity and body-positive messaging. Public Significance StatementYoung men who have sex with men report race-based and weight-based sexual discrimination when seeking partners online. Despite high prevalence in our sample, race-based discrimination was not associated with mental health. Weight-based discrimination was negatively associated with selfesteem and positively associated with depression. Queer-targeted mass-media interventions that capitalize on promoting body-type diversity may be integral to shifting community norms away from rigid standards of attractiveness and ultimately having a positive impact on individual-level mental health.

Online Dating and Mental Health among Young Sexual Minority Black Men: Is Ethnic Identity Protective in the Face of Sexual Racism?

“…We discuss the implications of these associations at length in prior published work [ 31 ]. In addition, all three RSD subscales were associated with poorer psychological well-being ( H1 ), consistent with our prior work, as well as other scholars’ work examining sexual racism among sexual minority men of color [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ].…”

“…As a contemporary online phenomenon, RSD has been receiving growing attention in the social science and health literature [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]. Recently, researchers have demonstrated links between RSD and negative health outcomes, such as anxiety and psychological distress—as well as lower self-esteem and well-being among sexual minority men of color [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ]. In a series of recent studies, we developed the first psychometrically evaluated scale of RSD and examined the association between RSD and psychological well-being among young sexual minority Black men (YSMBM) [ 30 , 31 ].…”

Racialized Sexual Discrimination (RSD) and Psychological Wellbeing among Young Sexual Minority Black Men (YSMBM) Who Seek Intimate Partners Online

“…RSD is defined as the sexualized discriminatory treatment that sexual minority men of color experience when seeking partners for an intimate encounter. While RSD may occur in person, this phenomenon is most often discussed in the context of online partner-seeking, which is widespread among young sexual minority men (Badal et al, 2018;Meanley et al, 2020;Paz-Bailey et al, 2017). In one study, researchers reported that sexual minority men used a dating app to meet intimate partners 22 times per week on average (compared to 8 times per week for heterosexual men), and 55% of LGB adults reported having used a website/mobile app for online dating in a recent poll (Grov et al, 2014;Pew Research Center, 2020).…”

Commentary: the unintended consequences of digital service technologies

“…For example, many anti-black and anti-Semitic groups of students practice “Zoom bombing” (Johnson, 2020), in which they intrude on video calls to engage in unwanted and disruptive intrusions that typically result in verbal attacks. Similarly, men belonging to a minority or stigmatized groups often report having negative social interactions on social companionship sites (Meanley et al , 2020). Similarly, female video game players who achieve a moderate level of expertise in a game are often treated as invisible or marginalized by male players (Paaßen et al , 2017).…”