Future studies are also needed to examine specific relationships between stigma-related stressors and the psychological processes identified in this review. Although several distal stressors (e.g., victimization, discrimination) have been evaluated as predictors of general psychological processes, no studies have simultaneously examined multiple instantiations of stigma-related stress and the proposed psychological processes reviewed here. Prior longitudinal research with bereaved gay men has demonstrated that stigma-related stressors (e.g., discrimination, expectations of rejection, and internalized stigma) are differentially associated with specific mental health outcomes (Hatzenbuehler, Nolen-Hoeksema, & Erickson, 2008). This research suggests that some stressors are uniquely predictive of certain psychological processes (e.g., discrimination is associated with rumination, but not hopelessness), but this contention requires empirical examination.
