John Pachankis
John Pachankis | |
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Born | |
Academic background | |
Education | Loyola University MA, PhD, Stony Brook University |
Academic work | |
Institutions | Yale School of Public Health |
Website | [1] |
John E. Pachankis is an American clinical psychologist. He is the Susan Dwight Bliss Professor at the Yale School of Public Health. His research has examined the nature of stigma and its impact on mental health and social functioning. He specifically studies the psychological experiences of LGBT individuals, including processes of identity formation and identity concealment; the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral consequences of stigma-based rejection and exclusion; and affirmative mental health treatments for LGBT populations.
Education and career
Pachankis was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. He completed his undergraduate education at Loyola University New Orleans and earned his PhD in clinical psychology (quantitative focus) at Stony Brook University in 2008 as a student of Marvin Goldfried. Upon completing his clinical internship at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Pachankis accepted an assistant professor position at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University. Pachankis joined the faculty at the Yale School of Public Health as an associate professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences in 2013. He has secondary appointments in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology. In 2018, Pachankis received tenure and, the following year, he earned the endowed professorship title, Bliss Associate Professor of Public Health [1]
Pachankis directs the Yale LGBTQ Mental Health Initiative, which "provides a home for scholars and scholarship devoted to understanding and improving the mental health of LGBTQ populations in the US and around the world."[2]
Scientific contributions
Pachankis’ research laboratory uses experiments, longitudinal cohort studies, and clinical trials to study how LGBT people are affected by their social environments and to develop evidence-based strategies for reducing LGBT people's disproportionate risk of depression, anxiety, suicidality, and high-risk substance use.[3]
Sexual orientation concealment
Across his career, Pachankis has studied the social determinants and psychological consequences of concealing one's sexual orientation. With Richard Bränström, he estimated that the majority of the world's sexual minority population is closeted, as a function of anti-LGBT laws, policies, and attitudes across much of the world.[4] With Mark Hatzenbuehler, he found that the length of time that gay and bisexual men spend in the closet is associated with the degree to which their self-worth is contingent on external sources of approval and status, the so-called “Best Little Boy in the World” hypothesis.[5] This study also found that investing one's self-worth in external sources of regard was associated with loneliness, negative mood, and dishonesty.[6] Pachankis has conducted some of the few population-based studies of the closet, finding that the mental health correlates of not being out differ by gender and social support.[7][8] In a meta-analysis of 193 studies, his team found a small positive association between sexual orientation concealment and poor mental health and a small negative association between sexual orientation concealment and substance use and highlighted several methodological limitations of existing research on sexual orientation concealment.[9]
LGBTQ-affirmative psychotherapy
Pachankis has been a leader in the LGBT-affirmative psychotherapy movement, having developed one of the only mental health treatments for sexual minority people to have been tested in
Gay community stress theory
Pachankis proposed gay community stress theory, suggesting that gay and bisexual men face exacerbated masculine-based status pressures and competition because they seek social and sexual reward from other men. Across a series of qualitative, survey, and experimental studies, Pachankis and colleagues found partial support for this theory. For instance, gay and bisexual men with low social status who were rejected in a simulated online chatroom experienced more felt rejection if they were rejected by gay men rather than heterosexual men. In survey research, experiences of gay community stress (i.e., stress emanating from the gay community's focus on sex, status, competition, and exclusion of diversity) are associated with poorer mental health and more risk-taking even when controlling for experiences of stigma-based stress from heterosexual people.[15][16] These findings have been used to influence social media apps to take steps to address the stigma that takes place on them.[17][18][19]
References
- ^ "John Pachankis appointed the Bliss Associate Professor of Public Health". news.yale.edu. November 12, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
- ^ Poitras, Colin (April 10, 2019). "Yale Alumnus Pledges $5 Million for Yale School of Public Health Fund and Professorship to Advance LGBTQ Mental Health". medicine.yale.edu. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
- ^ "Yale LGBTQ Mental Health Initiative". October 7, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
- PMID 31194801.
- ^ Chandler, Adam (May 6, 2013). "The Best Little Boy in the World — That's Me". The New York Times. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
- S2CID 143473660.
- PMID 26280492.
- S2CID 150416329.
- PMID 32700941.
- PMID 26147563.
- PMID 32437174.
- PMID 32538644.
- ^ "Yale Professor Awarded for Contributions Toward LGBT Health". aspph.org. August 9, 2017. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
- ^ "APA Public Interest Award Goes to Yale Associate Professor". aspph.org. December 20, 2017. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
- PMID 31928026.
- PMID 32206770.
- ^ Ferrannini, John (October 7, 2021). "Queer dating app users want less toxicity". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
- ^ Ryan, Benjamin (February 29, 2020). "Pressure to keep up: status imbalance a major factor in stress in gay men". The Guardian. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
- ^ Kumar, Naveen (October 7, 2021). "The Gay Community's Obsession With Status and Looks Has Huge Mental Health Costs". Them. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
External links
John Pachankis publications indexed by Google Scholar