Mentor/s
Michael T. Vale
Participation Type
Poster
Abstract
Minority stressors are unique experiences that are specific to marginalized groups, such as sexual minorities (e.g., LGB people). Past research has supported the connection between minority stress and negative physical and mental health; however, little is known about how minority stress is experienced in everyday life. For instance, most research studies include questionnaires that limit examples of minority stress. Similarly, little is known about which stressors are most frequent, and who they affect most (i.e., age, gender, sexual orientation). To address this gap, we are analyzing open-ended responses from a daily diary study in which 112 sexual minorities self-reported stressful sexuality-based experiences across a period of 21-days. We used thematic analysis to code the type of minority stress experienced. Last year, we created a codebook to determine the prevalence and type of minority stressors experienced in daily life, however, interrater reliability was low. This was likely because the codebook was difficult to use. The purpose of this study is to improve the previous codebook. We are currently reanalyzing the data. Our goal is to provide a rich description that can help researchers better understand minority stress as it happens. Ultimately, our goal is that our findings will lead to deeper analysis in the future and help identify ways to reduce minority stress.
College and Major available
Psychology BS, Business Economics
Location
Digital Commons & West Campus West Building University Commons
Start Day/Time
4-26-2024 12:00 PM
End Day/Time
4-26-2024 2:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Prize Categories
Most Scholarly Impact or Potential, Most Transformative for Social Justice, Best Visuals
What Was the Worst Part of Your Day? Refining a Coding System to Examine Daily Experiences of Minority Stress
Digital Commons & West Campus West Building University Commons
Minority stressors are unique experiences that are specific to marginalized groups, such as sexual minorities (e.g., LGB people). Past research has supported the connection between minority stress and negative physical and mental health; however, little is known about how minority stress is experienced in everyday life. For instance, most research studies include questionnaires that limit examples of minority stress. Similarly, little is known about which stressors are most frequent, and who they affect most (i.e., age, gender, sexual orientation). To address this gap, we are analyzing open-ended responses from a daily diary study in which 112 sexual minorities self-reported stressful sexuality-based experiences across a period of 21-days. We used thematic analysis to code the type of minority stress experienced. Last year, we created a codebook to determine the prevalence and type of minority stressors experienced in daily life, however, interrater reliability was low. This was likely because the codebook was difficult to use. The purpose of this study is to improve the previous codebook. We are currently reanalyzing the data. Our goal is to provide a rich description that can help researchers better understand minority stress as it happens. Ultimately, our goal is that our findings will lead to deeper analysis in the future and help identify ways to reduce minority stress.
Students' Information
Gabrielle H. Lasiw, Psychology, Fall 2024
Chelsea G. Signore, Psychology, Honors, Spring 2024
Nicole Sperling, Psychology, Spring 2024
Sadie Stevens, Business Economics, Spring 2025
Honorable Mention, Most Transformative for Social Justice 2024 Award