Gay men\u2019s stress response to a\xa0general and a\xa0specific social stressor

Frank A Sattler,Urs M Nater,Ricarda Mewes

doi:10.1007/s00702-021-02380-6

Frank A Sattler, Urs M Nater + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-021-02380-6

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Abstract

Gay men show altered psychobiological stress responses and exhibit a higher prevalence of mental disorders than their heterosexual counterparts. Both of these findings are likely due to gay-specific discrimination. Since it has not yet been determined whether gay-specific stress is more noxious than general stress, we tested whether gay men react more strongly to gay-specific socially stressful stimuli than to general socially stressful stimuli. N = 33 self-identified gay men (mean = 26.12 years of age, SD = 5.89), 63.6% of whom were in a relationship with a man, participated in an experimental within-group study, in which they were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) as well as a gay-specific TSST in a randomized order. Salivary cortisol and testosterone were assessed at five time points during the laboratory tests and perceived stress was assessed at four time points. According to psychobiological and perceived stress indices, the participants reacted similarly to a gay-specific and general social stressor. There were no significant differences in the outcomes, either when looking at pre–post-test differences or when comparing the overall stress responses. Given that the response to a gay-specific social stressor was equally pronounced as the one to a general social stressor, programs aiming to decrease minority stress but overlooking general stress are likely to yield only partial improvements in gay men’s mental health. Instead, we suggest helping gay men cope with both forms of stress through building social support, assertiveness, and mindfulness skills, as well as decreasing emotional dysregulation.

Highlights

Gay men constitute a risk group for physical (Branström et al 2016) as well as mental disorders (Plöderl and Tremblay 2015; Ross et al 2018; Semlyen et al 2016) and show a higher mortality rate compared to heterosexual men (Cochran et al 2016).Meyer (2003) suggested that gay men experience gay-specific stressors, called minority stressors, which explain mental and physical health differences compared to heterosexual men
In the case of salivary testosterone, we found an increase in the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) condition, but a drop in the Gay-Specific TSST (GS-TSST) condition from t2 to t3
These findings suggest that both the TSST and GS-TSST were successful in inducing stress

Summary

Introduction

Gay men constitute a risk group for physical (Branström et al 2016) as well as mental disorders (Plöderl and Tremblay 2015; Ross et al 2018; Semlyen et al 2016) and show a higher mortality rate compared to heterosexual men (Cochran et al 2016). Meyer (2003) suggested that gay men experience gay-specific stressors, called minority stressors, which explain mental and physical health differences compared to heterosexual men. Studies have found that gay men and other sexual minorities are more likely than heterosexual individuals to experience early-life adversity (McLaughlin et al 2012) and (general) stressful life events, such as debt or termination of personal relationships (Przedworski et al 2015). Perceived stress sets off a cascade of negative emotions, poor health decisions and behaviors, and an activation of the two major stress-responsive systems, the sympathoadrenal-medullary (SAM) system as well as the

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