A Parallel Mediation Model Examining Sexual Minority Identity & Psychological Distress During the 2022 Mpox Outbreak

Author: Richard Chang¹, Aldo M. Barrita², Gloria Wong-Padoongpatt¹

Affiliation: ¹Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

²Department of Psychology, Michigan State University

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Abstract:​

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Sexual minority (SM) individuals experience disease stigma, the negative or discriminatory attitudes that others have toward an individual who is perceived to be living with a disease. These experiences with stigma may be heightened during epidemics that induce the fear of infectious diseases, the persistent worry and fear about being infected with an infectious disease, which may result in stigmatized individuals reporting more psychological distress. Therefore, the current study examined the mediating roles of the fear of mpox and internalization of discriminatory experiences among SM and non-SM individuals during the 2022 mpox outbreak in relation to psychological distress. One hundred and forty-six participants, with half self-identified as SM individuals, responded via an online survey. The results indicated that SM individuals reported more fear of mpox and more internalization of discriminatory experiences than non-SM individuals. A parallel mediation analysis examined the fear of mpox and internalization of discriminatory experiences as potential mechanisms for the relationship between SM identity and psychological distress. The results suggest that internalization better explained the relationship between SM identity and psychological distress than the fear of mpox. Findings have important implications for psycho-social interventions and clinical practices to reduce psychological distress caused by disease-related stigma.

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Keywords: sexual minorities, mpox, monkeypox, infectious diseases, psychological distress​

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ISSN 3069-8200