Behav Ther. 2025 Nov;56(6):1185-1196. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2025.06.001. Epub 2025 Jun 14.
ABSTRACT
Numerous daily diary studies have demonstrated that sexual minority enacted stigma is associated with elevated same-day anxious/depressed affect. Despite the multiple marginalized identities held by many sexual and gender minorities (SGM), studies have rarely examined other types of enacted stigma (e.g., racism, ageism) experienced by SGM at the daily level. Further, it is unclear whether enacted stigma based on different identities have similar or distinct effects on anxious/depressed affect. The current study aimed to examine the effect of experiencing enacted stigma based on any marginalized identity on anxious/depressed affect (i.e., a common enacted stigma effect) and to determine if specific types of enacted stigma have unique effects above and beyond this common enacted stigma effect. We utilized ecological momentary assessment data from a sample of SGM older adults (50+ in age; 38% people of color). Experiencing any type of enacted stigma was associated with elevated anxious/depressed affect during the same observation. No specific types of enacted stigma predicted anxious/depressed affect above and beyond the common enacted stigma effect. Among SGM of color, experiencing multiple types of enacted stigma during the same observation was associated with additional anxious/depressed affect, but this did not generalize to the full sample. Results suggest that enacted stigma has a concurrent effect on anxious/depressed affect regardless of the targeted identity and specific types of enacted stigma do not have additional effects. This has potential implications for future research on effects of enacted stigma at the daily level, particularly among samples with multiple marginalized identities.
PMID:41139112 | DOI:10.1016/j.beth.2025.06.001
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