Although one longitudinal study has failed to document a relationship between sexual minority stress and changes in psychological distress (Rosario, Schrimshaw, Hunter, & Gwadz, 2002), an emerging body of empirical research indicates that stigma-related stress has deleterious consequences for behavioral and mental health outcomes among sexual minorities. Evidence of the association between specific stigma-related stressors and adverse mental health outcomes is briefly reviewed below. This review is organized around the distal-proximal distinction advanced in the minority stress model.
