Race/Ethnicity, Attachment, and the Cortisol Awakening Response among Young Sexual Minority Men

Abstract

Young sexual minority men (YSMM), particularly YSMM of color, are more likely to have dysregulated physiological stress responses compared to heterosexuals. Moreover, the quality of social relationships impacts physiological stress patterns among young adults. One key indicator of social relationships is that of adult attachment, which refers to the types of socioemotional bonds that individuals form with peers, family, and romantic partners. However, the association between adult attachment and physiological stress functioning among diverse samples of YSMM has been underexplored. Thus, the current study sought to bridge this gap in the literature by exploring how race/ethnicity moderates the association between adult attachment and physiological stress patterns among Black versus White YSMM. N = 63 YSMM participated in a 5-day daily diary study in which they completed a baseline survey and provided saliva samples over the 5-day period in order to measure diurnal cortisol. Three-level hierarchical linear modeling was used in order to examine the association between race/ethnicity, adult attachment, and diurnal cortisol over the 5-day period. Results suggest that adult attachment avoidance was associated with the cortisol awakening response (CAR) among YSMM. In addition, race/ethnicity moderated the association between adult attachment avoidance and the CAR such that YSMM who identified as Black had evidence of a more dysregulated physiological stress response as compared to YSMM who identified as White. Future research should focus on further unpacking the drivers of physiological stress patterns among White and Black YSMM.