ArticlePloS one2021
Minority stress, distress, and suicide attempts in three cohorts of sexual minority adults: A U.S. probability sample.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 85 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
85 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- How much is sexual minority stress confounded with familial causes? A systematic multilevel meta-analysis.Psychological medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Relationships between internalized stigma and depression and suicide risk among queer youth in the United States: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Experiences of Peer Mentoring Sexual and Gender Minority Emerging Adults Who Are at Risk for Suicide: Mixed Methods Study.JMIR formative research · 2025Trial
- Pilot Randomized Trial of an Expressive Writing Intervention to Reduce Sexual HIV-Transmission Risk and Substance Use Among Emerging Adult Gay and Bisexual Men.AIDS and behavior · 2022Trial
- Beyond Legal Recognition: Parental Acceptance and Couple-Level Minority Stress on Same-Sex Couples' Well-Being in Chinese Societies.Archives of sexual behavior · 2026Article
- Mental health status of sexually diverse youth at age 23: Cross-sectional data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2026Article
- Understanding the role of intersectional identity constructs on psychological well-being of Latino men who have sex with men (LMSM) in San Diego, California: A cross-sectional analysis of the NEXUS study.SSM. Mental health · 2026Article
- Sexual Orientation and Social Isolation from Early Adulthood to Early Midlife.Journal of health and social behavior · 2026Article
- A Preregistered, Prospective, Longitudinal Examination of the Impact of Self-Initiated Sexual Orientation Change Efforts on Health and Changes in Sexuality.Archives of sexual behavior · 2026Article
- Safe and supported: Mitigating psychotic experiences in Irish adolescents - A population-based study.Psychological medicine · 2026Article
- Family Dysfunction, Interpersonal Risk Factors, and Suicidal Ideation Among Marginalized Adolescents Following Psychiatric Hospitalization.Archives of suicide research : official journal of the International Academy for Suicide Research · 2026Article
- Sexual Orientation and Suicide Risk: Examining the Contributions of Hopelessness, Life Satisfaction, and Spirituality.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Experiences of LGBTQIA+ medical students: gaps and challenges during preclinical education.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Post-traumatic stress disorder and adverse pregnancy outcomes: sexual orientation disparities in a prospective cohort study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Sexual minority adults exhibit greater inflammation than heterosexual adults in the context of depressive symptoms and anxiety: Pathways to health disparities.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2026Article
- Sexual Identity and Birth Cohort Differences in Social Support and Its Link with Well-Being among Sexual Minority Individuals.Archives of sexual behavior · 2026Article
- Exposure and Emotional Reactivity to Daily Stressors in Same-Sex and Different-Sex Marriages.Journal of marriage and the family · 2026Article
- Identity in turmoil: Investigating the morally injurious dimensions of minority stress.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2025Article
- Understanding suicide in sexual minority youth: neural reactivity to social cues as a moderating influence.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience · 2025Article
- Mental health in sexual minorities: Change over time in a Finnish population-based sample.Psychological medicine · 2025Article
25 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
During the past 50 years, there have been marked improvement in the social and legal environment of sexual minorities in the United States. Minority stress theory predicts that health of sexual minorities is predicated on the social environment. As the social environment improves, exposure to stress would decline and health outcomes would improve. We assessed how stress, identity, connectedness with the LGBT community, and psychological distress and suicide behavior varied across three distinct cohorts of sexual minority people in the United States. Using a national probability sample recruited in 2016 and 2017, we assessed three a priori defined cohorts of sexual minorities we labeled the pride (born 1956-1963), visibility (born 1974-1981), and equality (born 1990-1997) cohorts. We found significant and impressive cohort differences in coming out milestones, with members of the younger cohort coming out much earlier than members of the two older cohorts. But we found no signs that the improved social environment attenuated their exposure to minority stressors-both distal stressors, such as violence and discrimination, and proximal stressors, such as internalized homophobia and expectations of rejection. Psychological distress and suicide behavior also were not improved, and indeed were worse for the younger than the older cohorts. These findings suggest that changes in the social environment had limited impact on stress processes and mental health for sexual minority people. They speak to the endurance of cultural ideologies such as homophobia and heterosexism and accompanying rejection of and violence toward sexual minorities.
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