Abstract
Heterosexist and racist discrimination may adversely impact neurobiological processes implicated in the physical and psychosocial well-being of sexually diverse Latinx people. Yet, little is known about how experiences of both heterosexist and racist discrimination are associated with adrenocortical and psychological functioning in groups of people with multiply marginalized social group identities. Through the application of the intersectionality, minority stress, and allostatic load frameworks, it was hypothesized that experiences of heterosexist and racist discrimination would be associated with disruptions to diurnal salivary cortisol patterns and challenges to identity integration. A group of sexually diverse (self-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer) Latinx emerging adults (N = 51; ages 18–29, M = 24.06 years; SD = 2.73) provided saliva samples and completed a series of questionnaires during a four-day testing protocol. Heterosexist and racist discrimination were both positively associated with challenges to identity integration. Challenges to identity integration, in turn, were associated with lower intercepts of diurnal cortisol slopes, and heterosexist and racist discrimination were indirectly associated with lower cortisol intercepts via challenges to identity integration. These findings suggest that experiences of heterosexist and racist discrimination may interconnect by challenging sexual and ethnic/racial identity integration and disrupting adaptive adrenocortical regulation among sexually diverse Latinx emerging adults.
Highlights
Diverse Latinx people experience heterosexist and racist discrimination which negatively impacts their wellbeing (Rhodes et al, 2020)
Both heterosexist discrimination and racist discrimination were positively associated with challenges to identity integration
Outness was negatively associated with racist discrimination and challenges to identity integration
Summary
Diverse (i.e., people who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, or queer) Latinx people experience heterosexist and racist discrimination which negatively impacts their wellbeing (Rhodes et al, 2020). Discrimination, Identity Integration, and Waking Cortisol people’s ability to physiologically and psychosocially adjust healthfully (Parra and Hastings, 2018). The effects of pervasive social stressors are concerning during emerging adulthood because this developmental period is characterized by uncertainty, heightened self-awareness (Arnett, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006), sexual identity exploration and formation (Patterson, 2008; Morgan, 2013), and ethnic/racial identity exploration and formation (Erikson, 1968; Phinney, 2006; Kroger et al, 2010). The role of stress physiology in the links between discrimination and identity formation during emerging adulthood for sexually diverse people of color has received little empirical attention (Parra and Hastings, 2018). Diverse Latinx people who have experienced both heterosexist and racist discrimination report a need to keep their sexual and ethnic/racial identities separate (Morales, 1989; Shramko et al, 2018), and this barrier to identity integration is a form of social stress associated with poor psychosocial adjustment (Sarno et al, 2015; Santos and VanDaalen, 2016; Shramko et al, 2018)
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