Perceived Homophobia and Identity-Related Discomforts on Psychological Well-Being in Bisexual Individuals of Color: The Mediating Roles of Community Connectedness and Religiosity.

OBJECTIVES

Extensive studies on well-being and mental health have been conducted with general lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations, while findings for subgroups such as bisexual individuals, and especially bisexual individuals of color (BIOC), are scarce. Based on the minority stress model and intersectionality theory, we tested direct effects of perceived homophobia, race-based and sexuality-based discomforts on psychological well-being in BIOC and their indirect effects through lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) community connectedness and religiosity.

METHODS

Our sample included 402 BIOC drawn from a larger Sexual Social Justice Project national sample with over 5,000 participants having diverse sexual and gender identities. A path analysis was conducted to test our hypotheses.

RESULTS

Overall, the path model demonstrated good fit to observed data (χ 2 = 8.550; df = 13; p = .806; RMSEA = .000, 90% CI [.000, .035]; SRMR = .024; CFI = 1.000; TLI = 1.000). Furthermore, only perceived homophobia and sexuality-based discomfort displayed direct effects on well-being. While LGB community connectedness partially mediated the impact of perceived homophobia, religiosity mediated fully and partially, respectively, the influence of race-based and sexuality-based discomforts on well-being.

CONCLUSIONS

Although BIOC faces multiple challenges, they have unique ways of drawing strength from multiple communities of support. Further research into these pathways is warranted.