Abstract: Which Types of Social Support Matter for Black Sexual Minority Men Coping with Internalized Homophobia? (Society for Social Work and Research 28th Annual Conference - Recentering & Democratizing Knowledge: The Next 30 Years of Social Work Science)

Schedule:

Friday, January 12, 2024

Marquis BR Salon 13, ML 2 (Marriott Marquis Washington DC)

* noted as presenting author

Hayden Dawes, MSW, Research Associate, PhD Candidate, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

William Hall, PhD, Associate Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

Ankur Srivastava, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

Denise Yookong Williams, MSW, Doctoral Student, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC

Background: Minority stress theory views social support as a protective factor against the effects of minority-specific stressors like internalized homophobia (IH) on mental health in sexual minority populations. However, much of the empirical validation of this theory has been conducted within predominantly white samples, resulting in a dearth of information on Black sexual minority individuals. Current examinations of social support fail to capture the nuances of how Black sexual minority men may access support systems differently, resulting in a need to investigate how social support, IH, and mental health operate for Black sexual minority men. This study examined relationships between IH, depression, and different types of social support (i.e., family, friends, Black community, gay community) using a mediation model.

Methods: We used data from the POWER (Promoting Our Worth Equity and Resilience) Study, which recruited Black sexual minority men at Black Pride events across six cities in the United States from 2014 to 2017, to test four mediation pathways concurrently in Stata 17. Participants (N = 4,898) completed a questionnaire assessing a variety of health and life domains, including depression, internalized homophobia, and social support.

Results: IH was positively associated with depression. Family, friend, and Black community support were all negatively associated with depression. Additionally, IH was positively associated with all types of support. Finally, family, friend, and Black community support partially mediated the relationship between IH and depression.

Conclusions and Implications: Results suggest that the relationship between social support and depression is complex for Black sexual minority men. Findings suggest family support is an important factor for clinical intervention efforts targeting depression, and that gay community support systems should assess how their environments can better support Black sexual minority men. Overall, findings demonstrate the necessity of future examination of how social support functions differently within Black sexual minority communities.