Minority Stress, Dyadic Coping, and Relationship Functioning among Interracially Partnered Q+ Individuals

Abstract

Interracial partnering occurs at higher rates among sexual minorities with 28% of men and 20% of women in same-sex marriages being intermarried compared to 16% of men and women in opposite-sex marriages (Barroso and Fry, 2021). Interracial couples report greater likelihood of discrimination, higher perceived stress, and lower overall health in comparison to monoracial couples (Pittman et al., 2023). Within the Q+ community, interracially partnered individuals experience multiple minority stressors due to each partner's intersecting identities (Cao et al., 2017; Cyrus, 2017; Jeong and Horne, 2009). Informed by the Temporal Intersectional Minority Stress model (Rivas-Koehl et al., 2023), resources like social support and coping can buffer the negative effects of minority stressors on an individual's health and well-being. The current study employed dyadic coping which was expected to minimize or buffer the negative impact of sexual minority stress on health and well-being outcomes (Bodenmann et al., 2005; Bodenmann et al., 2016). The present study evaluated associations among dyadic coping, sexual identity dissatisfaction, and discrimination. Data come from a subsample of 228 interracially partnered Q+ individuals from the National Couples Health and Time Study. Findings demonstrate a direct association between dyadic coping and relationship functioning but lack support for dyadic coping as a moderator of minority stress and relationship functioning. Future research should examine the implications of a direct association between dyadic coping and relationship functioning for this population.