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Contents
- Abstract
- Method
- Participants and Procedures
- Measures
- Demographics
- Problematic hypersexuality
- Sexual compulsivity
- Childhood gender nonconformity
- Childhood peer rejection
- Adulthood overt discrimination
- Gay-related rejection sensitivity
- Internalized homonegativity
- Emotion dysregulation
- Depression and anxiety
- Analysis Plan
- Results
- Sample Description
- Preliminary Analyses
- Minority Stress Path Model
- Discussion
Figures and Tables
Abstract
Objective: Sexual compulsivity represents a significant public health concern among gay and bisexual men, given its co-occurrence with other mental health problems and HIV infection. The purpose of this study was to examine a model of sexual compulsivity based on minority stress theory and emotion regulation models of mental health among gay and bisexual men. Method: Gay and bisexual men in New York City reporting at least nine past-90-day sexual partners (n = 374) completed measures of distal minority stressors (i.e., boyhood gender nonconformity and peer rejection, adulthood perceived discrimination), hypothesized proximal minority stress mediators (i.e., rejection sensitivity, internalized homonegativity), hypothesized universal mediators (i.e., emotion dysregulation, depression, and anxiety), and sexual compulsivity. Results: The hypothesized model fit the data well (RMSEA = 0.05, CFI = 0.98, TLI = 0.95, SRMR = 0.03). Distal minority stress processes (e.g., adulthood discrimination) were generally found to confer risk for both proximal minority stressors (e.g., internalized homonegativity) and emotion dysregulation. Proximal minority stressors and emotion dysregulation, in turn, generally predicted sexual compulsivity both directly and indirectly through anxiety and depression. Conclusions: The final model suggests that gay-specific (e.g., internalized homonegativity) and universal (e.g., emotion dysregulation) processes represent potential treatment targets to attenuate the impact of minority stress on gay and bisexual men’s sexual health. Tests of interventions that address these targets to treat sexual compulsivity among gay and bisexual men represent a promising future research endeavor.
Sexual compulsivity refers to frequent hard to control sexual fantasies, urges, or behaviors that, unlike unproblematic high libido, cause distress or impairment in important life domains such as work and close relationships (Black, 2000). In addition to this distress and impairment, sexual compulsivity represents a public health concern for gay and bisexual men, given its co-occurrence with other mental health problems and HIV infection (Dodge et al., 2008; Grov, Parsons, & Bimbi, 2010; Woolf-King et al., 2013)....