• Wei-Po Chou, Chien-Ho Lin, Yi-Hsin Yang, Shiou-Lan Chen, and Cheng-Fang Yen.
• Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, and Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
• J Formos Med Assoc. 2022 Jul 1; 121 (7): 1302-1309.

Background/PurposeGay and bisexual men are at a higher risk of mental and physical health problems than heterosexual men, reporting higher frequencies of harassment and discrimination in both housing and employment domains. Psychological inflexibility/experiential avoidance (PI/EA) refers to behaviors that are rigidly guided by psychological reactions rather than direct contingencies or personal values; PI/EA referring to a key psychopathology behavior related to greater mental illness. The objective of the study was to examine the association of various types of harassment with PI/EA and the effects of multiple types and site harassment on PI/EA among Taiwanese emergent adult gay and bisexual men.MethodsA total of 305 gay and bisexual men aged between 20 and 25 years were recruited into this study. The level of PI/EA and types of harassment were evaluated and further analysis the effect of harassment on PI/EA.ResultsFindings indicated that various types of harassment exerted significant effects on PI/EA in emergent adult gay and bisexual men; furthermore, the effect was cumulative. The result also revealed that victims of verbal ridicule and relational exclusion, victims of physical aggression and theft of belongings, and victims of cyber harassment had significantly higher PI/EA.ConclusionHarassment experiences appeared to be significantly associated with PI/EA, and the effects could be cumulative. It would be beneficial to construct a friendly world for emergent adult gay and bisexual men. Evaluation and intervention with PI/EA improvement should be considered for emergent adult gay and bisexual men with traditional and cyber harassment experiences.Copyright © 2021 Formosan Medical Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

15 keywords...

hide…