Sexual minority women (SMW; e.g., lesbian, bisexual, queer) report elevated rates of violence, alcohol use disorder, and alcohol-related harm, such as mortality and mental health comorbidities (e.g., PTSD, depression) compared to heterosexual women. This talk positions SMW’s increased risk of violence (e.g., childhood sexual abuse, intimate partner violence) and related mental and behavioral health outcomes within the context of societal and systemic stigma and ongoing inadequate social safety. The talk will also present a model for understanding SMW’s stress response and discuss how some SMW may be more susceptible to stress sensitization due to having multiple minoritized identities (e.g., SMW of color, SMW living in low-resource settings). The talk will conclude with a discussion on implications for the development and implementation of evidence-based clinical interventions for SMW who experience violence, such as expressive writing and cognitive-behavioral interventions to reduce PTSD and alcohol use disorder.
Speaker
Jillian R Scheer, PhD, is a licensed counseling psychologist, the Cobb-Jones Professor of Clinical Psychology, and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Syracuse University. Dr. Scheer’s research seeks to determine the effects of violence exposure and minority stressors on sexual minority women’s hazardous drinking and co-occurring mental health outcomes, such as PTSD. Dr. Scheer also conducts research in developing and implementing tailored mental health interventions for sexual and gender minority populations.