In addition, various general psychological processes may render some individuals more vulnerable to the experience of subsequent stigma-related stressors, particularly more proximal individual-difference characteristics. For instance, social isolation in response to distal stressors may also lead to greater tendencies to conceal one’s identity, which may in turn exacerbate distress under certain circumstances (Cole et al., 1997). Conversely, proximal stigma-related stressors may also potentiate specific general psychological processes. As previously discussed, several characteristics of concealed stigmas (a proximal stress process)—including preoccupation, self-monitoring, and increased hypervigilance (Pachankis, 2008)—have been associated with rumination, (Lyubomirsky et al., 1999), a general psychological risk factor for depression (Nolen-Hoeksema et al., 2008). No research to date, however, has tested specific bi-directional hypotheses between general and group-specific processes. This effort will require prospective research with multiple assessments of stress exposure, mediators, moderators, and psychopathological symptoms (Grant et al., 2003). Recent statistical models that have been developed for multiple mediators (e.g., Preacher & Hayes, 2008; Taylor, MacKinnon, & Tein, 2008) have made these research questions possible to examine.
