The Role of Psychological Flexibility as a Mediator Between Experienced Sexual Racism and Psychological Distress Among Men of Color Who Have Sex with Men.

Previous research has shown that individuals belonging to multiple marginalized groups experience higher levels of psychological distress, which is linked to experiencing discrimination based on their multiple marginalized identities. One way that gay and bisexual men of color face discrimination is in the dating and sexual situations within the men who have sex with men community, which is sometimes termed sexual racism. Previous research has found that experienced discrimination on the basis of their race/ethnicity is positively related to depressive symptoms. The present study examined whether psychological flexibility mediates the effect of experiencing sexual racism on psychological distress. In this study, 439 men of color who have sex with men completed a series of questionnaires online on Amazon Mechanical Turk. Results showed that the indirect effects of experiencing sexual racism through psychological flexibility on depression (95% CI .22, .39), anxiety (95% CI .15, .29), and stress (95% CI .18, .33) were significant while controlling for demographic variables. Therefore, this model showed that psychological flexibility mediated and explained the effect of experiencing sexual racism on psychological distress. Clinical implications and future avenues of research are discussed.

Examining sexual racism and body dissatisfaction among men of color who have sex with men: The moderating role of body image inflexibility.

Body image research with men who have sex with men (MSM) has largely focused on White MSM. The current study aimed to investigate whether men of color who have sex with men (MCSM) report similar levels of body dissatisfaction as White MSM. We also studied whether (a) the experience of sexual racism, a unique stressor for MCSM, is related to body dissatisfaction and (b) body image inflexibility moderates the relationship between sexual racism and muscularity-oriented behaviors. White MSM and MCSM (total N = 887) recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk completed questionnaires assessing body dissatisfaction, body image flexibility, and experienced sexual racism on Qualtrics. We found that MCSM report more engagement in behaviors aimed at changing their bodies than White MSM. Additionally, experiencing sexual racism was related to higher body dissatisfaction and body image inflexibility in MCSM. In addition, body image inflexibility moderated by strengthening the association between experiencing sexual racism and muscularity-oriented behaviors. The present study highlights the need for further research with this understudied population, including intervention studies on mitigating the impact of experiencing sexual racism by increasing psychological and body image flexibility and studies aimed at reducing the incidence of sexual racism.