Personality, coping and mental health among lesbian, gay, and bisexual community members

Robert J. Cramer, Jennifer C. Johnson, James W. Crosby, Craig E. Henderson, Amanda C. La Guardia, Caroline H. Stroud

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

The present study makes one of the first attempts to integrate personality, coping and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) community members. Specifically, active (i.e., seeking social support, stopping unpleasant emotions, problem-focused coping/solving, and education/advocacy) and passive (i.e., internalization, substance use, and detachment) coping styles were hypothesized to mediate the association of personality traits and mental health symptoms (i.e., depressive, anxiety and general distress symptoms). Participants consisted of 336 LGB outpatients from an urban community health clinic in the southwestern United States. Results demonstrated that: (1) passive coping mediated the relationship between Neuroticism and mental health symptoms, (2) both active and passive coping mediated the extraversion-mental health symptoms association, and (3) significant mediation emerged via active coping for the association of conscientiousness and mental health symptoms. Implications are discussed for clinical practice with LGB persons, and the integration of personality, coping and mental health theory and research.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)272-278
Number of pages7
JournalPersonality and Individual Differences
Volume96
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1 2016

Keywords

  • Coping
  • Five-factor model
  • Mental health
  • Personality
  • Sexual orientation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Psychology

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