The Relationship of Minority Stress with the Mental Health of LGBTQ College Students on a Christian Campus with Non-Affirming Policies

Author

Ethan Nicholas SmetanaFollow

Campus Location

Abilene Campus (Residential)

Date of Award

5-2022

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8557-9423

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Psychology

Degree Name

Master of Science

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Richard Beck

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

John Casada

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

David Mosher

Abstract

One foundational concept of the Minority Stress Model (Meyer, 2003) is that the stress is based on persisting social processes and structures. Consequently, research to further the available pool of empirical evidence on how institutions based in the dominant culture affect minorities is needed and valuable. This study seeks to examine the effects of dimensions of minority stress on the mental health outcomes of LGBTQ students at a Christian university with a non-affirming school policy. Further, this study is interested in how gratitude affects the impact that minority stress has on mental health as a potential protective factor. Participants were 24 LGBTQ students at Abilene Christian University who completed demographic questions and eight measures to assess mental health outcomes and minority stressors. The measures were distributed via an online survey system. Findings from this study confirm past research regarding the minority stress model’s impact on mental health. Evidence was also found showing that gratitude could be a potential protective factor for sexual minorities. Implication of the findings, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Smetana, Ethan Nicholas, "The Relationship of Minority Stress with the Mental Health of LGBTQ College Students on a Christian Campus with Non-Affirming Policies" (2022). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 461.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/461