Queer Asian Americans’ Intracommunity Racism Distress and Mental Health: Effects of Social Resources Over Time

Abstract

Objectives: Queer Asian Americans encounter intersectional stressors due to their multiple minoritized statuses, which can increase the risk of mental health problems. Some research has suggested that social resources, including family acceptance of sexual orientation and general social integration, have the potential to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people of color from the harmful impacts of these minority stressors. However, most studies have been cross-sectional, and few have examined the buffering effects of social resources specifically for queer Asian Americans. The present study addresses these gaps by testing whether family acceptance and social integration can buffer the concurrent and prospective links between racism distress within lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities and mental health among queer Asian Americans. Method: A sample of 227 queer Asian Americans in the United States and Canada (Mage = 24.85, SD = 6.30) completed online surveys twice, with an 8-month interval between assessments. Results: Findings revealed unique contributions of social integration and family acceptance to mental health. Specifically, in concurrent analyses, the negative link between racism distress and mental health was present only for queer Asian Americans with low-to-moderate (but not high) levels of social integration. In longitudinal analyses, the link weakened as family acceptance levels at Time 1 increased. Conclusions: The findings underscore the significance of social resources from peers and family in counteracting detrimental health impacts created by intersecting minority stressors.