Out and healthy: Being more “out” about a concealable stigmatized identity may boost the health benefits of social support

This research examined whether the relationship between perceived social support and health would be moderated by level of outness for people living with different concealable stigmatized identities (mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence, rape, or childhood abuse). A total of 394 people...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of health psychology 2016-12, Vol.21 (12), p.2934-2943
Main Authors: Weisz, Bradley M, Quinn, Diane M, Williams, Michelle K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult Survivors of Child Abuse - psychology
Child abuse & neglect
Childhood
Cross-Sectional Studies
Domestic violence
Domestic Violence - psychology
Female
Health
Health Surveys
Humans
Identity
Male
Mental disorders
Mental Disorders - psychology
Middle Aged
Perceived social support
Rape
Rape - psychology
Social Identification
Social Stigma
Social Support
Substance abuse
Truth Disclosure
Violence - psychology
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Summary:This research examined whether the relationship between perceived social support and health would be moderated by level of outness for people living with different concealable stigmatized identities (mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence, rape, or childhood abuse). A total of 394 people living with a concealable stigmatized identity completed a survey. Consistent with hypotheses, at high levels of outness, social support predicted better health; at low levels of outness, social support was less predictive of health. People concealing a stigmatized identity may only be able to reap the health benefits of social support if they are “out” about the stigmatized identity.
ISSN:1359-1053
1461-7277
DOI:10.1177/1359105315589392