Applying Intersectionality Perspectives
Sexual and gender diverse adolescents and emerging adults who also belong to a minoritized ethnic or racial group experience, internalize, and anticipate various forms of stress associated with their multiply minoritized status. These forms of multiple minority stress are initiated and perpetuated by interlocking systems of oppression that privilege heterosexual, cisgender, and White statuses, namely heterosexism, cissexism, and racism. Experiences of multiple minority stress are intersectional and can disrupt developmental processes related to identity development, interpersonal and intrapersonal coping processes, biological stress regulation, and psychological health.
Although research on sexual and gender diverse and minoritized ethnic and racial adolescents and emerging adults has grown in parallel, contemporary research has begun to addresses the complexity of stressful life experiences at the intersections of heterosexism, cissexism, and racism. At ARC, we prioritize a critical application of intersectionality perspectives to the study of stress exposure, identity development, biological stress regulation, risk and resistance, and psychological health when considering the complex lives of multiply oppressed adolescents and emerging adults.
Representative peer-reviewed published articles:
Parra, L. A., Roos, L. G., Layland, E. K., Spahr, C. M., Goldbach, J. T., Bray. B. C., Kipke, M. D., & Slavich, G. M. (2025). Optimism mitigates the negative effects of lifetime financial stressors on mental health among sexual and gender minority people of color. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. DOI: 10.1007/s40615-025-02305-z (Download PDF)
Parra, L. A., Spahr, C. M., Goldbach, J. T., Bray. B. C., Kipke, M. D., & Slavich, G. M. (2022). Greater lifetime stressor exposure is associated with poorer mental health among sexual minority people of color. Journal of Clinical Psychology. Advance online publication. DOI: 10.1002/jclp.23463(Download PDF)
Mereish, E. H., Parra, L. A., Watson, R. J., & Fish, J. N. (2021). Subtle Minority Stress and Depressive Symptoms among Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents of Color: Mediating Role of Self-Esteem and Sense of Mastery. Prevention Science. Advance online publication. DOI: 10.1007/s11121-021-01294-9(Download PDF
Parra, L. A., & Hastings, P.D. (2018). Integrating the neurobiology of minority stress with an intersectionality framework for LGBTQ-Latinx populations. In Santos, C. E. & Toomey, R. B. (Eds.), Envisioning the Integration of an Intersectional Lens in Developmental Science. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 161, 91–108. DOI: 10.1002/cad.20244(Download PDF)