The Impact Of Mindfulness On Hopelessness Among Gay And Bisexual Men:Multiple Mediating Effects Of Minority Stress

It is well known that the Chinese gay and bisexual men suffer from external prejudice and discrimination,and their mental health is not optimistic,and most of them lack motivation in life and lose hope for the future when they are under great pressure.However,external discrimination is almost always present,and it is difficult to change the society’s view of sexual minorities and reduce discrimination in a short period of time.Therefore,it is especially important to look at themselves to find personal factors that help alleviate their feelings of hopelessness.mindfulness,a key hotspot for mental health enhancement strategies,is considered an important personal factor for coping with stress and risk,and can help Chinese gay and bisexual men alleviate their feelings of hopelessness.In contrast,the Minority Stress Model summarizes expectations of rejection,concealment of sexual orientation,and internalized fear of sexual orientation as proximal stressors specific to sexual minorities and as key antecedents that make sexual minorities vulnerable to psychological distress,thus it may play a multiple mediating role between mindfulness and hopelessness.Second,the study found different ways of generating stress and different mechanisms of action for homosexual and bisexual groups.In summary,based on the minority stress model,this study aimed to explore the effects of mindfulness on hopelessness among Chinese male sexual minorities(gay and bisexuals)and to examine the multiple mediating mechanisms of proximal stress among sexual minorities and group differences among gay men and male bisexuals.Through online recruitment and snowballing,questionnaires were administered to512 sexual minorities using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale,Internalized Fear of Sexual Orientation Scale,Expectations of Rejection Scale,Concealment of Sexual Orientation Scale,and Hopelessness Scale,and 509 valid questionnaires were obtained.Structural equation modeling between variables was developed using AMOS 24.0 to examine mediating effects and to conduct multiple group analyses,and the findings were as follows.(1)gay men had significantly higher levels of mindfulness than bisexual men;male sexual minorities with higher age had significantly more expectations of rejection and concealment of sexual orientation than sexual minorities with lower age;only children had significantly lower levels of mindfulness and higher internalized fear of sexual orientation,concealment of sexual orientation,expectations of rejection,and hopelessness than non-only children;sexual minorities with higher education levels had significantly higher levels of mindfulness and lower levels of internalized fear of sexual orientation,concealment of sexual orientation,expectations of rejection,and hopelessness;sexual minorities from urban areas had significantly higher levels of mindfulness and significantly lower levels of internalized fear of sexual orientation than sexual minorities from rural areas;sexual minorities with partners had significantly higher levels of mindfulness and significantly lower levels of internalized fear of sexual orientation,concealment of sexual orientation,expectations of rejection,and hopelessness than sexual minorities without partners.Finally,sexual minorities with student status also had significantly lower levels of internalized fear of sexual orientation,concealment of sexual orientation,expectations of rejection,and hopelessness than sexual minorities with non-student status.(2)mindfulness was significantly and negatively associated with internalized fear of sexual orientation,expectations of rejection,concealment of sexual orientation and hopelessness,while internalized fear of sexual orientation,expectations of rejection,concealment of sexual orientation and hopelessness were significantly and positively associated with each other.(3)The mediating effect of expectations of rejection between mindfulness and hopelessness and the mediating effect of concealment of sexual orientation between mindfulness and hopelessness were significant among Chinese male sexual minorities.4)The chain mediating role of internalized fear of sexual orientation and expectations of rejection between mindfulness and hopelessness among Chinese male sexual minorities was significant,and the chain mediating role of internalized fear of sexual orientation and concealment of sexual orientation between mindfulness and hopelessness among Chinese male sexual minorities was significant.(5)Gay men and bisexual men differed in their models,with gay men having significantly stronger predictive effects than bisexual men on the paths from mindfulness to internalized fear of sexual orientation,expectations of rejection,and concealment of sexual orientation,and bisexual men having significantly stronger predictive effects than gay men on the paths from internalized fear of sexual orientation to concealment of sexual orientation.In conclusion,Mindfulness can help sexual minorities to alleviate their feelings of hopelessness and improve their mental health,and this effect can be achieved by alleviating the proximal stress of sexual minorities.For gay men,more mindfulness training should be provided to help alleviate feelings of hopelessness,while for bisexual men,attention needs to be paid to the effects of external stigma on them to help reduce internalized stigma and safeguard their psychological health.