Both mediators and moderators may be viewed as mechanisms that explain psychopathological outcomes, but my primary interest is in mediational processes that can explain why stigma-related stressors lead to psychopathology. This is in contrast to moderation analyses, in which the emphasis is on processes that increase or decrease the likelihood that stressors contribute to psychopathology (Grant et al., 2003). Although this review will focus on mediators, I devote a section to moderation in the future directions section, given the importance of questions of moderated mediation to the present research.
