Publication Date

1-5-2026

Document Type

Article

Organizational Units

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology

Keywords

Psychological stress, Emotions, Database searching, Mental health, Psychiatry, Systematic reviews, Qualitative studies, Depression, Research design

Abstract

Objective

To provide a broad, comprehensive picture of affect regulation in the context of sexual and gender minority stress, this scoping review aims to identify and synthesize methods, methodologies, and available evidence pertinent to emotion regulation and coping in the context of minority stress among sexual and gender minority (SGM) people.

Introduction

SGM people face disproportionately high rates of mental health problems due to experiences of minority stress and lack of social safety. Theories and growing evidence suggest that affect regulation plays a critical role in SGM people’s well-being in the face of minority stress. Researchers have largely studied emotion regulation, coping, and minority stress in distinct literatures; as such, there is a critical need to synthesize evidence across these bodies of research.

Inclusion criteria

We will review empirical studies that (1) included SGM people, (2) measured at least one affect regulation construct, and (3) studied affect regulation in the context of sexual or gender minority stress.

Methods

Published and unpublished (i.e., grey literature) empirical studies written in English (no restrictions on publication date) will be searched using the following databases: PsycINFO (via EBSCO), Web of Science Core Collection (via Clarivate), PubMed (via National Library of Medicine), Gender Studies Database (via EBSCO), Sociological Abstracts (via ProQuest), and SocIndex with Full Text (via EBSCO). Grey literature will be identified through searching on additional repositories and databases and emailing listservs of relevant organizations. Potentially relevant papers will first be screened based on title and abstract, followed by full-text screening, against inclusion criteria by two independent reviewers. Data on study characteristics and findings relevant to the review will be extracted by two independent reviewers. Descriptive data relevant to each research question will be presented in tabular format, followed by a narrative summary of main findings, research gaps, and areas for future research.

Copyright Date

12-16-2025

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Rights Holder

Daphne Y. Liu, Benjamin A. Swerdlow, Shao Yuan Chong, Nadia Kako, Alex Rubin, and Nicholas S. Perry

Provenance

Received from PLoS

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

11 pgs

File Size

376 KB

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the Authors. User is responsible for all copyright compliance. This article was originally published as

Liu, D. Y., Swerdlow, B. A., Chong, S. Y., Kako, N., Rubin, A., and Perry, N. S. (2026). Affect regulation in the context of sexual and gender minority stress: A scoping review protocol. PLoS One, 21(1), e0329531. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0329531

Publication Title

PLoS One

Volume

21

Issue

1

First Page

e0329531

ISSN

1932-6203

PubMed ID

41490249

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