Cardiometabolic Risk, Minority Stress, and Resilience in the Study of Stress, Gender, and Minority Status (SGM SOL): An Ancillary Study of the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos.

The minority stress model posits that sexual and gender minority (SGM) adults experience excess stress that worsens health, and resilience factors mitigate these effects of excess stress on health. This study evaluated the associations of minority stress and resilience factors with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk among Hispanic/Latino SGM and non-SGM adults. Between 2020 and 2024, 1108 adults in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos responded to sexual orientation and gender identity questions, provided CVD risk biomarker data, and completed self-reported measures of stress and resilience factors as part of the ancillary study, Stress, Gender, and Minority Status in the Study of Latinos. Accounting for survey design, we estimated Poisson regression models of cross-sectional associations between SGM statuses, stress factors, and resilience factors with both cardiometabolic risk (CMR) and Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) scores. Compared with non-SGM participants, SGM participants were more likely to experience chronic stress, minority stress, stigma, and everyday discrimination. SGM adults also experienced lower levels of social support but greater lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community connectedness. Adjusted for socio-demographic covariates, we found a significant association at levels of high cumulative stress with low resilience (vs. low cumulative stress with low resilience) with CMR but not with MetS. We found no differences in CMR or MetS by SGM status. These results support aspects of the minority stress model, highlighting the cumulative effects of stress and the mitigating effects of resilience for both SGM and non-SGM Hispanic/Latino adults.