Minority stress, psychological distress, and alcohol misuse among sexual minority young adults: A resiliency-based conditional process analysis

• We found support for the existence of latent personality trait configurations among sexual minority young adults that are associated with differential risk for psychological distress and alcohol misuse in the context of minority stress.
• We found support for psychological distress (i.e., depression and anxiety symptoms) as a partial mediator of the relationship between minority stress and alcohol misuse among sexual minority young adults.
• Results of moderated mediation tests suggest that the direct and indirect (mediated) relationship between minority stress and alcohol misuse is conditional upon individuals’ personality trait profile. That is, these relationships held for individuals classified as at-risk (higher neuroticism, lower extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and openness to experience), but not among those classified as adaptive on the basis of their Five Factor personality trait profile.

BackgroundSexual minority young adults experience elevated rates of distal stress (discrimination, victimization), and related psychological distress and alcohol misuse. However, few studies have examined the degree to which personality trait differences confer risk/resilience among sexual minority young adults. We hypothesized that psychological distress would mediate the relationship between distal stress and alcohol misuse, but that these relationships would be moderated by personality trait differences.MethodSexual minority young adults (N = 412) were recruited nationally. Survey measures included demographic questions, minority stressors, Five Factor personality traits, and current psychological distress and alcohol misuse symptoms. We used a data-driven two-stage cluster analytic technique to empirically derive personality trait profiles, and conducted mediation and moderated mediation analyses using a regression-based approach.ResultsOur results supported a two-group personality profile solution. Relative to at-risk individuals, those classified as adaptive scored lower on neuroticism, and higher on agreeableness, extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. As predicted, psychological distress mediated the relationship between distal stress and alcohol misuse. However, personality moderated these relationships to the degree that they did not exist among individuals classified as adaptive.DiscussionIn the current study, we found that personality moderated the established relationships between distal stress, psychological distress, and alcohol misuse among sexual minority young adults. Future research is needed to further explicate these relationships, and in order to develop tailored interventions for sexual minority young adults at risk.