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This study examined the relationships between gender role conflict, heterosexist discrimination, internalized heterosexism, and depression among 203 sexual minority men. Findings revealed that more gender role conflict occurring between work and family relations was uniquely and directly related to greater depression. In addition, internalized heterosexism fully mediated the relationships between both gender role conflicts around restrictive affectionate behavior between men and heterosexist discrimination and depression. That is, the findings are consistent with the notion that sexual minority men who experience more discomfort with expression of caring between men and more heterosexist discrimination may be more likely to experience internalized heterosexism which may lead to higher levels of depression. Gender role conflicts related to success, power, and competition and restrictive emotionality were not uniquely related to depression. Finally, the variables in the model accounted for 24% of the variance in depression scores.

Depression is a major health concern and is one of the frequent problems presented by clients in counseling (Kessler, Merikangas, & Wang, 2007; Pratt & Brody, 2008; Strine et al., 2008). Depressive symptoms among men have gained increased attention in the last decade, and several studies have found that sexual minority men are more likely to experience depression than their heterosexual counterparts (cf., Cochran & Mays, 2000; Cochran, Sullivan, & Mays, 2003; Sandfort, de Graaf, Bijl, & Schnabel, 2001). For example, using a population-based survey of 9,714 participants, Cochran & Mays (2000) found that sexual minority men showed significantly higher prevalence rates of major depression than heterosexual men. Similarly, using data from a nationally representative sample of 2,197 adults, Cochran et al. (2003) found that sexual minority men were three times more likely than heterosexual men to meet the criteria for major depression. Thus, research is needed to better understand some of the contributing factors that might help explain this discrepancy.

Gender Role Conflict (GRC; O'Neil, 1981