Intersectional Discrimination, Positive Feelings, and Health Indicators Among Black Sexual Minority Men

Objective: This study examined psychological and sexual health indicators associated with positive feelings and discrimination at the intersection of race and gender among Black gay, bisexual, and other sexual minority men (SMM). Method: Participants were a national sample of 1,064 Black SMM (Mdn age = 28) who responded to self-report measures of positive feelings and discrimination associated with being a Black man, psychological distress, self-efficacy, emotional awareness, and sexual HIV risk and protective behavior. Using structural equation modeling, we examined associations between the positive feelings and discrimination scales and the psychological and sexual health indicators. We also tested age as a moderator of these associations. Results: Our results indicated that positive feelings about being a Black man were significantly positively associated with self-efficacy (b = 0.33), emotional awareness (b = 0.16), and sexual protective behavior (b = 0.93) and negatively associated with psychological distress (b = -0.26) and sexual risk behavior (b = -0.93). Except for emotional awareness and sexual protective behavior, discrimination as a Black man was also associated with these variables, though to a lesser magnitude for positive health indicators. Moderation results showed that, except for the association between positive feelings and emotional awareness, younger men generally had stronger associations between health indicators and the positive feelings and discrimination scales. Conclusions: These results suggest that positive feelings, in addition to discrimination, at the intersection of race and gender play an important role in the psychological and sexual health of Black SMM, especially earlier in their lives.