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Minority Stress, Spirituality and Psychological Quality of Life in a Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Sample

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Minority Stress, Spirituality and Psychological Quality of Life in a Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Sample MINORITY STRESS, SPIRITUALITY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL QUALITY OF LIFE IN A LESBIAN, GAY AND BISEXUAL SAMPLE Megan M. Purser, M.A. Thesis Prepared for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2013 APPROVED: Mark A. Vosvick, Major Professor Charles A. Guarnaccia, Committee Member Victor R. Prybutok, Committee Member Chiachih DC Wang, Committee Member Vicki Campbell, Chair of the Department of Psychology Mark Wardell, Dean of the Toulouse Graduate School Purser, Megan M. Minority stress, spirituality and psychological quality of life in a lesbian, gay and bisexual sample. Master of Science (Psychology), August 2013, 90 pp., 19 tables, 6 figures, references, 115 titles. Unique factors associated with the experience of spirituality and religiosity for many in lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) communities include minority stress. Using structural equation modeling, we examined whether minority stress mediates the relationship between spirituality and psychological quality of life (QOL). Results indicate minority stress mediates the relationship between spirituality and psychological QOL for gay men and bisexuals. However, minority stress is not a significant mediator for lesbians. Therefore, lesbians may experience minority stress and its relationship to psychological QOL differently than gay men and bisexuals due to higher societal acceptance. This study provides support for examining lesbians, gay men and bisexuals separately rather than as one sexual minority group. Copyright 2013 By Megan M. Purser ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my research advisor, Dr. Mark Vosvick, and thesis committee members for their time, feedback and guidance throughout this study. I would also like to thank Kwabena Boakye for spending extensive time guiding me through PLS and data interpretation. I also want to express my gratitude to the faculty and members of the Center for Psychosocial Health Research at the University of North Texas, the local LGB service organizations for helping us recruit and the participants for making this study possible. I want to also thank my family and friends for all their love and support. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................vi LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual ................................................................................... 2 Quality of Life in LGB Persons.............................................................................. 5 Spirituality ............................................................................................................. 7 Definitions .................................................................................................. 7 Dimensions of Spirituality ........................................................................... 9 Spirituality and Psychological QOL .......................................................... 11 Spirituality and LGB ............................................................................................ 16 Minority Stress Theory ........................................................................................ 21 Minority Stress .................................................................................................... 27 Stress ....................................................................................................... 27 Anger ....................................................................................................... 28 Research Question and Hypotheses .................................................................. 29 Implications......................................................................................................... 31 CHAPTER 2 METHODS .............................................................................................. 33 Participants ......................................................................................................... 33 Measures ............................................................................................................ 35 Short-Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) ..................................................... 36 Systems of Belief Inventory (SOBI) ......................................................... 37 Spirituality Index of Well-Being (SIWB) .................................................... 37 Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS) ........................................................ 38 Positive State of Mind Scale (PSOM) ...................................................... 38 Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS) ..................................... 39 Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOTR)...................................................... 39 State Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2 (STAXI-2) ............................... 40 iv Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) ................................................................. 40 Shame Due to Heterosexism Scale (SDHS) ............................................ 41 Heterosexist Harassment, Rejection and Discrimination (HHRDS) ......... 41 Data Analyses .................................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER 3 RESULTS ................................................................................................. 46 Exploratory Factor Analysis ................................................................................ 46 Univariate Statistics ............................................................................................ 52 Bivariate Statistics .............................................................................................. 54 Multivariate Statistics .......................................................................................... 54 Structural Equation Model .................................................................................. 56 LGB.......................................................................................................... 58 Lesbians .................................................................................................. 64 Gay Men .................................................................................................. 65 Bisexuals ................................................................................................. 67 Group Comparisons ................................................................................. 67 CHAPTER 4 DISCUSSION ........................................................................................... 70 Hypothesis 1– Spirituality is Negatively Correlated with Minority Stress ............ 72 Hypothesis 2 - Minority Stress is Negatively Correlated with Psychological QOL ........................................................................................................................... 73 Hypothesis 3.Minority Stress Mediates the Relationship Between Spirituality and Psychological QOL ............................................................................................. 75 Limitations .......................................................................................................... 78 Clinical Implications ............................................................................................ 80 Future Research ................................................................................................. 81 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 82 v LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1 Descriptive Statistics ........................................................................................ 34 Table 2 Religious Affiliation .......................................................................................... 35 Table 3 HFS Exploratory Factor Analyses .................................................................... 47 Table 4 KIMS Exploratory Factor Analyses ................................................................... 48 Table 5 LOTR Exploratory Factor Analyses .................................................................. 48 Table 6 PSOM Exploratory Factor Analyses ................................................................. 49 Table 7 SIWB Exploratory Factor Analyses .................................................................. 49 Table 8 PSS Exploratory Factor Analyses .................................................................... 50 Table 9 HHRDS Exploratory Factor Analyses ............................................................... 50 Table 10 SDHS Exploratory Factor Analyses ................................................................ 51 Table 11 STAXI Exploratory Factor Analyses ............................................................... 51 Table 12 SF-36: Energy Exploratory Factor Analyses................................................... 52 Table 13 SF-36: Emotional Well-Being Exploratory Factor Analyses ............................ 52 Table 14 Mean and Standard Deviation and Range by Group ...................................... 53 Table 15 Construct Correlations* .................................................................................
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