Research has long suggested that a relationship exists between identifying as sexual minority (SM; e.g., gay males, lesbians, and bisexuals) and health concerns such as depression, suicidal ideation, and substance abuse. Contemporary research with SM has sought to determine which processes mediate this relationship. Theorists have offered several potential mediators, but a consensus of which processes act as mediators does not exist among theorists. Meyer (2003) has offered the minority stress hypothesis as an explanatory model. His model posits that three mediation processes exist: prejudice events, stigma consciousness, and internalized homophobia. The proposed study seeks to test the minority stress hypothesis in a diverse sample of SM college males and females from the Pacific Northwest via the Internet. African American and Latino groups, though, often experience other factors that may have a negative effect on their mental health that are not included in the model (e.g., racist discrimination), which may make the model inappropriate for these individuals. The proposed study also seeks to test the minority stress hypothesis in a sample comprised entirely of SM African American and Latino college students. Should the model be inappropriate, a third model will be constructed that incorporates variables such as racist discrimination, family religiosity, and importance of being supported by one's family. ? ? ?
