How Do Anxiety and Depression Trajectories Vary Among Black, Latinx, and Afro-Latinx Sexual Minority Young Men? Uncovering Variation in Development With Intersectional Subgroups
Date
2025-02-20
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Developmental Psychology
Abstract
The present study investigated whether the patterns of intersectional stigma experiences were associated with differences in the developmental, parallel trajectories of anxious and depressive symptoms across the transition to adulthood among Black, Latinx, and Afro-Latinx cisgender sexual minority young men. Data were from the Healthy Young Men’s Cohort Study collected semiannually from 2016 to 2020 in Los Angeles and included 426 cisgender Black, Latinx, and Afro-Latinx sexual minority young men between the ages of 18 and 25 at baseline. Multidomain latent growth modeling with a complex grouping variable was used to estimate the parallel trajectories of anxious and depressive symptoms and whether these trajectories varied based on the patterns of intersectional stigma at baseline. Models were adjusted for individually varying age of observations to approximate the growth processes from ages 18 to 29. Results demonstrated a general decline in anxious symptoms and depressive symptoms over time. Relative to all other patterns of stigma experiences, the subgroup characterized by a pattern of compounding racism and heterosexism exhibited the highest levels of anxious and depressive symptoms and an earlier peak in anxious symptoms. This compound stigma group also exhibited an earlier and the highest peak in anxious symptoms compared to all other groups. Results highlight the impact of intersecting stigma on mental health across early adult development, the need for mental health intervention early or before the transition to adulthood, and continued effort to challenge and combat racist and heterosexist biases.
Public Significance Statement
Subgroups of Black, Latinx, and Afro-Latinx sexual minority men who experience different patterns of intersectional stigma early in the transition to adulthood also experience higher levels of anxiety and depression. Young men experiencing compounded racism and heterosexism are likely to need earlier intervention to prevent the higher levels and earlier peak in mental health symptoms.
Description
© American Psychological Association, 2025. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. The final article is available in Developmental Psychology, upon publication, at: https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001968.
Keywords
homophobia, racism, intersectionality, mental health trajectories, disparities
Citation
Layland, E. K., Diaz, J. E., Parra, L. A., Berglund, P., Kipke, M. D., & Bray, B. C. (2025). How do anxiety and depression trajectories vary among Black, Latinx, and Afro-Latinx sexual minority young men? Uncovering variation in development with intersectional subgroups.Developmental Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001968