Ethnic identity commitment as a moderator for perceived access to health care among Latinx sexual minority men.

Steven M Sasa, Frank R Dillon, Jennifer Lobos, Austin C Eklund, Ryan Ebersole
Author Information
  1. Steven M Sasa: Department of Counseling and Counseling Psychology, Arizona State University. ORCID
  2. Frank R Dillon: Department of Counseling and Counseling Psychology, Arizona State University.
  3. Jennifer Lobos: Department of Counseling and Counseling Psychology, Arizona State University.
  4. Austin C Eklund: Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine.
  5. Ryan Ebersole: AthenaPsych, Community Mental Health Clinic.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Gay, bisexual, and other sexual minority men (SMM) face more barriers to accessing health care compared to other men. In comparison to other SMM populations, Latinx SMM (LSMM) report having less access to health care. The purpose of the present study is to elucidate how theorized environmental-societal-level (i.e., immigration status, education level, and income level), community-interpersonal-level (i.e., social support and neighborhood collective efficacy [NCE]), and social-cognitive-behavioral-level factors (i.e., age, heterosexual self-presentation [HSP], sexual identity commitment, sexual identity exploration [SIE], and ethnic identity commitment [EIC]) may relate with perceived access to health care (PATHC) in a sample of 478 LSMM.
METHOD: We conducted a hierarchical regression analysis examining the hypothesized predictors of PATHC, as well as EIC as a moderator of the direct association between predictors and PATHC. We hypothesized that Latinx EIC would moderate relations between the aforementioned multilevel factors and PATHC.
RESULTS: LSMM perceived greater access to care when indicating the following: higher education level, more NCE, more HSP, more SIE, and more EIC. Latinx EIC acted as a moderator of four predictors of PATHC, including education, NCE, HSP, and SIE.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings inform outreach interventions of researchers and health care providers about psychosocial and cultural barriers and facilitators of health care access. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

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Grants

  1. R15 MD010193/NIMHD NIH HHS
  2. /NIMHD NIH HHS

MeSH Term

Humans
Male
Hispanic or Latino
Health Services Accessibility
Adult
Sexual and Gender Minorities
Middle Aged
Social Identification
Young Adult
Adolescent
Social Support
White

Word Cloud

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