College of Behavioral & Social Sciences

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Author: search.filters.author.Le, Thomas

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    Minority Stress, Pandemic Stress, and Mental Health among Gender Diverse Young Adults: Gender Dysphoria and Emotion Dysregulation as Mediators
    (Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 2022) Pease, M; Le, Thomas; Iwamoto, Derek
    Gender diverse people in the United States are uniquely vulnerable to deleterious health outcomes because of long-enshrined systems of oppression and marginalization in American society. Trans young adults are especially vulnerable to these deleterious outcomes owing to their unique position in the life course. However, more research is needed on the mechanisms through which this marginalization contributes to mental health disparities in trans populations. Using a minority stress framework and online cross-sectional survey design, the current study examines potential mediators of the relationship between transgender identity-related distal stress and psychological distress from late May to early July 2020 in a sample of transgender young adults (N = 239; ages 18–29). More than half the sample scored above the K6 cutoff for severe psychological distress. Distal stress had a significant direct (β = .17, SE = .04, t = 2.76, p = .006) and indirect effect on psychological distress. Distal stress was indirectly associated with psychological distress through gender dysphoria (β = .04; 95% CI [.001, .10]) and emotion dysregulation (β = .16; 95% CI [.09, .23]). COVID-19 pandemic stressors were also positively associated with psychological distress (β = .36, SE = .12, t = 5.95, p < .001). Results highlight the significant mental health burden facing the trans community especially in the COVID-19 context, support a conceptualization of gender dysphoria as connected to experiences of oppression, and affirm the relevance of emotion dysregulation within minority stress frameworks. Mental health resources cognizant of the specific challenges experienced by trans young adults as well as policy changes that seek to address underlying structural transphobia in American culture and institutions are urgently needed.
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    Feminist Consciousness and Empowerment as Moderators in the Relationship between Sexism and Self-Objectification and Alcohol Use in College Women
    (2019) Le, Thomas; Iwamoto, Derek K; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    While past research has revealed a positive association between sexism and women’s alcohol use, no studies have examined how feminist identity may moderate this association. Thus, with a sample of 329 college-attending women, we examined the extent to which sexism, self-objectification, and benevolent sexism were associated with alcohol-related problems and heavy episodic drinking, as well as the extent to which various forms of feminist identity moderated those associations. Results showed that self-objectification was positively associated with heavy episodic drinking, whereas neither sexism nor benevolent sexism were associated with maladaptive alcohol use. Sexism was positively associated with alcohol related problems for women of color. Results also showed that the active commitment form of feminist identity moderated the association between self-objectification and heavy episodic drinking. No other interactions with moderating variables were significant. This study emphasizes the importance of examining gender-relevant factors when working with women who engage in risky alcohol use.