According to Meyer’s (2003) minority stress theory, sexual minorities are exposed to multiple forms of stressors, including discrimination, expectations of rejection, concealment/disclosure, and internalized homophobia. The minority stress theory draws upon the extensive literature documenting an association between stress and psychopathology (Brown, 1993; Dohrenwend, 2000) and is conceptually related to other social psychological and sociological theories that have highlighted the deleterious consequences of prejudice and stigma (Crocker, Major, & Steele, 1998; Link & Phelan, 2001). Just as general life stressors are believed to exceed an individual’s ability to cope (Dohrenwend, 2000; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984), stigma creates several unique demands (Herek & Garnets, 2007; Major & O’Brien, 2005; Miller & Kaiser, 2001; Pachankis, 2008) that may prove to be especially stress-inducing. In turn, these additional stressors are hypothesized to account for disparities in rates of mental health problems among sexual minorities.
