Minority Stress and Intimate Partner Violence Among Gay and Bisexual Men in Atlanta

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Robert Stephenson, Emory University; Catherine Finneran, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2017-07-01
• Publisher: SAGE Publications (UK and US): Open Access Titles
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © The Author(s) 2016.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1557988316677506
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: American Journal of Men's Health
• ISSN: 1557-9883
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 4
• Start Page: 952
• End Page: 961
• Grant/Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The original research was supported by funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, Grant #5R21HD066306-02.
• Keywords: Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; YOUNG MEN; RISK; SUBSTANCE USE; COHORT; intimate partner violence; minority stress; INTERNALIZED HOMOPHOBIA; RELATIONSHIP QUALITY; MSM; SAME-SEX RELATIONSHIPS; HEALTH; EXPERIENCES; Science & Technology; ABUSE
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health; Health Sciences, Nursing

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) rates are disproportionately high among sexual minority populations. Few studies have examined the plausible relationship between minority stress and IPV among men who have sex with men. This study examines the associations between IPV and three indicators of minority stress: internalized homophobia, sexuality-based discrimination, and racism, in a large venue-based sample of gay and bisexual men from Atlanta, USA. Each of the minority stress measures was found to be significantly associated with increased odds of self-reporting any form of receipt of IPV. Significant associations were also identified between perpetration of IPV and minority stressors, with most types of IPV perpetration linked to internalized homophobia. This study confirms findings in a growing body of research supporting the relationship between minority stress and increased prevalence of IPV among men who have sex with men, and points to the need to address structural factors in IPV prevention programs for male–male couples.