Jonathan Mathias Lassiter1, Jared K O'Garro-Moore2, Kainaat Anwar1, Stacy W Smallwood3, Inger E Burnett-Zeigler4, Lara Stepleman5, K Marie Sizemore6, Christian Grov7,8, H Jonathon Rendina9,10. 1. Department of Psychology, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA. 2. Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA. 3. Department of Health Policy & Community Health, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, USA. 4. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA. 5. Department of Psychiatry and Health Behavior, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA, USA. 6. Department of Psychiatry (RWJMS), Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA. 7. CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York, NY, USA. 8. CUNY Institute for Implementation Science in Population Health, New York, NY, USA. 9. Department of Epidemiology, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA. 10. Whitman-Walker Institute, Washington, DC, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Research related to anxiety among sexual minority men (SMM) typically focuses on risk factors. It has seldom examined factors that may be associated with lower levels of anxiety. This gap in the literature represents an opportunity to explore positive psychological factors that may be related to lower levels of anxiety among this group. Spirituality and self-compassion are two positive psychological factors that have been associated with reduced anxiety in general samples but have been understudied among SMM. This study aimed to determine the longitudinal associations between spirituality, self-compassion, and anxiety. DESIGN AND METHODS: Guided by an Afrocentric psychological framework, we conducted a secondary quantitative analysis with data from a racially and ethnically diverse sample of 697 U.S. SMM. RESULTS: Utilizing Hayes PROCESS Macro Model 4, we found that spirituality at baseline was positively associated with self-compassion at baseline, which in turn was inversely associated with anxiety at 12-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our findings provide evidence that spirituality and self-compassion are two positive psychological factors that are inversely associated with anxiety among SMM.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Research related to anxiety among sexual minority men (SMM) typically focuses on risk factors. It has seldom examined factors that may be associated with lower levels of anxiety. This gap in the literature represents an opportunity to explore positive psychological factors that may be related to lower levels of anxiety among this group. Spirituality and self-compassion are two positive psychological factors that have been associated with reduced anxiety in general samples but have been understudied among SMM. This study aimed to determine the longitudinal associations between spirituality, self-compassion, and anxiety. DESIGN AND METHODS: Guided by an Afrocentric psychological framework, we conducted a secondary quantitative analysis with data from a racially and ethnically diverse sample of 697 U.S. SMM. RESULTS: Utilizing Hayes PROCESS Macro Model 4, we found that spirituality at baseline was positively associated with self-compassion at baseline, which in turn was inversely associated with anxiety at 12-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, our findings provide evidence that spirituality and self-compassion are two positive psychological factors that are inversely associated with anxiety among SMM.
Authors: Kimberly S Johnson; James A Tulsky; Judith C Hays; Robert M Arnold; Maren K Olsen; Jennifer H Lindquist; Karen E Steinhauser Journal: J Gen Intern Med Date: 2011-02-19 Impact factor: 5.128