Predictive Factors that Contribute to Building Resilience in Latinx Lesbian Women
Open AccessThere are approximately 84,000 women who identify as a sexual minority in the United States. As the number of women who identify as a sexual minority increases, so does the need to better assist them in a mental health counseling setting. Therefore, the main goal of this study was to examine the predictive relationship between three independent variables, multiple minority stress, LGBTQ+ community connectedness, and social support on resilience in Latinx lesbian women. Age was assessed as a moderating variable in the relationship between each predictive variable and resilience. In addition, salience of identity was assessed as a mediating variable in the relationship between each predictive variable and resilience. A sample of 247 participants was recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and social media sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and Email Listservs). The mean age of participants was 32.5 (SD = 9.56), with a range of 18-67. The majority of the sample, 84.2%) identified their sexual orientation as lesbian, which the remainder, 15.8%, identified their sexual orientation as queer. In addition, a majority of the sample, 98%, identified their gender identity as cisgender women, with the remainder identifying as gender non-conforming (1.6%), or gender queer (0.4%). All participants (100%) reported identifying their ethnicity as Latinx. The researcher conducted a regression analysis to examine the relationship between the three predictive variables (multiple minority stress, LGBTQ+ community connectedness, and social support) and resilience. Consistent with the literature, the findings of the study indicate that all three predictive variables, as a model and independently, significantly predicted resilience in Latinx lesbian women. Then, the researcher conducted a moderation analysis using Hayes (2018) PROCESS macro to examine how age moderated the relationship between each predictive variable and resilience. The results of these analyses did not indicate that a participant’s age was a statically significant moderator in the relationship between each predictive variable and resilience. Finally, the researcher conducted a mediation analysis using Hayes (2018) PROCESS macro to examine how having a salient lesbian identity moderated the relationship between each predictive variable. The results of these analyses indicated that having a salient lesbian identity mediated the relationship between LGBTQ+ community connectedness and resilience in Latinx lesbian women. In other words, endorsing a lesbian identity increased Latinx lesbian women’s use of LGBTQ+ community connections to improve their overall resilience. Altogether, the results of the present study support the clinical relevance of focusing on multiple minority stress, LGBTQ+ community connectedness, and social support as predictive factors to build resilience of Latinx lesbian women.
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