| Title | How does stigma "get under the skin"?: the mediating role of emotion regulation. |
| Publication Type | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication | 2009 |
| Authors | Hatzenbuehler, Mark L., Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, and John Dovidio |
| Journal | Psychological science |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 10 |
| Pagination | 1282-9 |
| Date Published | 2009 Oct |
| ISSN | 1467-9280 |
| Keywords | Adult, African Americans, Emotions, Female, Homosexuality, Humans, Internal-External Control, Male, Mental Recall, Social Isolation, Social Support, Stereotyping, Stress, Psychological, Truth Disclosure, Young Adult |
| Abstract | Stigma is a risk factor for mental health problems, but few studies have considered how stigma leads to psychological distress. The present research examined whether specific emotion-regulation strategies account for the stigma-distress association. In an experience-sampling study, rumination and suppression occurred more on days when stigma-related stressors were reported than on days when these stressors were not reported, and rumination mediated the relationship between stigma-related stress and psychological distress. The effect of social support on distress was moderated by the concealability of the stigma: Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) respondents reported more isolation and less social support than African American respondents subsequent to experiencing stigma-related stressors, whereas African Americans reported greater social support than LGB participants. Social isolation mediated the stigma-distress association among LGB respondents. In a second experimental study, participants who ruminated following the recall of an autobiographical discrimination event exhibited prolonged distress on both implicit and explicit measures relative to participants who distracted themselves; this finding provides support for a causal role of rumination in the stigma-distress relationship. |
| DOI | 10.1007/s10995-010-0650-3 |
| Alternate Journal | Psychol Sci |
