University of North Dakota UND Scholarly Commons Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects January 2012 Multisexual Identities And Mental Health: Mitigating Factors Of Minority Stress Kimberly Marie Jorgensen Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.und.edu/theses Recommended Citation Jorgensen, Kimberly Marie, "Multisexual Identities And Mental Health: Mitigating Factors Of Minority Stress" (2012). Theses and Dissertations. 1356. https://commons.und.edu/theses/1356 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MULTISEXUAL IDENTITIES AND MENTAL HEALTH: MITIGATING FACTORS OF MINORITY STRESS by Kimberly Marie Jorgensen Bachelor of Arts, Luther College, 2005 Master of Arts, University of Northern Iowa, 2007 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of North Dakota In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Grand Forks, North Dakota December 2012 Copyright 2012 Kimberly Jorgensen ii This dissertation, submitted by Kimberly Jorgensen in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of North Dakota, has been read by the Faculty Advisory Committee under whom the work has been done, and is hereby approved. _______________________________________ David H. Whitcomb, Ph.D., chairperson _______________________________________ Cindy L. Juntunen, Ph.D. _______________________________________ Rachel L. Navarro, Ph.D. _______________________________________ Justin D. McDonald, Ph.D. _______________________________________ Steven D. LeMire, Ph.D. This dissertation is being submitted by the appointed advisory committee as having met all of the requirements of the Graduate School at the University of North Dakota and is hereby approved. ____________________________________ Dr. Wayne Swisher Dean of the Graduate School ____________________________________ December 6, 2012 iii PERMISSION Title Multisexual Identities and Mental Health: Mitigating Factors of Minority Stress Department Counseling Psychology and Community Services Degree Doctor of Philosophy In presenting this dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a graduate degree from the University of North Dakota, I agree that the library of this University shall make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for extensive copying for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor who supervised my dissertation work or, in his absence, by the chairperson of the department or the dean of the Graduate School. It is understood that any copying or publication or other use of this dissertation or part thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of North Dakota in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my dissertation. Name: Kimberly Jorgensen Date: December 6, 2012 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................. viii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................... 8 III. METHOD ........................................................................................................... 56 IV. RESULTS ........................................................................................................... 86 IV. DISCUSSION ................................................................................................... 100 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................ 124 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................. 158 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Conceptual Model of Minority Stress........................................................................... 55 2. Latent Path Model of Minority Stress........................................................................... 89 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Forced Choice Sexual Identity Label............................................................................ 58 2. Demographic Characteristics ....................................................................................... 60 3. Descriptive Statistics and Reliabilities.......................................................................... 88 4. Cronbach Coefficient Alpha with Deleted Variable..................................................... 90 5. Standardized Factor Reliabilities (Alpha)..................................................................... 90 6. Rotated Factor Pattern................................................................................................... 93 7. Results of Multiple Regression for the Prediction of Mental Health............................ 95 8. Results of Multiple Regression for the Prediction of Well-Being................................ 96 9. Intercorrelations ............................................................................................................ 99 vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I hope to convey my gratitude to the chair and members of my dissertation committee for their patient support during this dissertation project and throughout my doctoral program at the University of North Dakota. I received tremendous support for this expansive research project and outreach endeavors with the LGBTQ community from faculty and peers in the Department of Counseling Psychology and Community Services, for which I am immensely thankful. This project would not have been possible without the dedicated mentorship of Dr. Loren Toussaint and Department of Psychology faculty at Luther College; the encouragement of the graduate psychology faculty at the University of Northern Iowa; and the multicultural training in the Department of Counseling Psychology and Community Services at the University of North Dakota. The emotional support of friends, chosen family, and community members allowed me to push myself toward completion of this document through times of fatigue and competing demands. Specifically, I would like to thank the members of the broader LGBTQ community for their participation in this study, honest feedback about its limitations, and patience with the process. In acknowledging the imperfect nature of this research, we are able to maximize its utility and extend further dialogue and inquiry. viii ABSTRACT Much of the current literature about sexual minorities examines the experiences of lesbian- and gay-identified individuals. The current study was designed to facilitate increased understanding of sexuality for people who have multi-gendered attractions and sexual identities (e.g., bisexual, queer). This work extends beyond discrete binary categories and labels for sexual orientation, such as straight, gay, and lesbian. In the current examination of this expanded category, labeled as multisexual, it becomes important to shift not only the conceptualization of sexual orientation but also the nature of minority stress, from examining homophobia and heterosexism, to biphobia and monosexism. Under circumstances when an individual may have very little control over the stressor, such as prejudicial attitudes and discrimination, there is research to suggest that emotion-focused coping (specifically forgiveness) mitigates harmful mental health outcomes. The current study sought to address gaps in the current literature on LGB identities, including clearly assessing sexual identity, increased specificity in defining the population of study, and examining multidimensional relationships between variables (Diamond, 2003a). This study sought to estimate the fit of self-report data to a model of minority stress adapted from Meyer (2003), examining the interplay of minority stress, coping, and consequent health outcomes of people who are identify between and beyond the heterosexual and homosexual. Additionally, the study examined the ability of forgiveness and other styles of coping, including individual and LGBTQ community social support, to mitigate the expected negative association between minority stress and ix mental health and well-being. Participants (N = 207) identified with labels that embrace a more fluid concept of emotional, romantic, or sexual relationships (e.g., bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, PoMoSexual, questioning, unlabeled) and provided self-report data online. While the observed data did not provide a strong statistical fit with the hypothesized model of minority stress (Meyer, 2003), supplementary multiple regression analyses suggested a unique contribution of forgiveness in mitigating the detrimental relationship between