Lbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) dividuals report higher levels of problematic alhol and substance e than their heterosexual peers. This dispary is lked to the experience of LGB-specific strsors, termed mory strs. Addnally, bisexual dividuals show creased rat of psychopathology, cludg problematic alhol and substance e, above and beyond lbian and gay dividuals. However, not everyone experiencg mory strs reports creased rat of alhol and substance mise. Emotn regulatn (ER), which plays a cril role psychopathology general, is theorized to modulate the lk between mory strs and psychopathology. However, remas largely unknown whether ER plays a role lkg stanc of mory strs wh substance and alhol e out. To addrs the gap, the current study asssed 305 LGB dividuals’ stanc of mory strs, ER, and substance and alhol e out. We asssed the role of ER problematic alhol and substance e among LGB dividuals g morated mediatn, where sexual mory stat was entered as the morator, and ER difficulti was entered as the mediator. The rults dited signifint direct effects of mory strs, through ER difficulti, on both problematic alhol and substance e. However, there was no signifint teractn wh sexual orientatn stat, suggtg that ER may be important for all LGB dividuals predictg problematic alhol ...
Contents:
- MENTAL HEALTH LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR (LGBT) YOUTH
- MORY STRS, EMOTN REGULATN, AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTN: AN EXPERIMENTAL INVTIGATN OF GAY AND LBIAN ADULTS
- THE INDIRECT EFFECT OF EMOTN REGULATN ON MORY STRS AND PROBLEMATIC SUBSTANCE USE LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL INDIVIDUALS
- ATTACHMENT AND EMOTN REGULATN: A CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARATIVE STUDY OF IRANIAN AND DUTCH GAY MEN
- FEASIBILY OF AN EMOTN REGULATN INTERVENTN TO IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH AND RCE HIV TRANSMISSN RISK BEHAVRS FOR HIV-POSIVE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN WH SEXUAL COMPULSIVY
- AN EXAMATN OF EMOTN REGULATN AS A MECHANISM UNRLYG EATG DISORR PATHOLOGY LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL DIVIDUALS
- EMOTNALLY GAY
- INTERNALIZED HOMONEGATIVY, EMOTN DYSREGULATN, AND ISOLATG BEHAVRS PERPETRATN AMONG GAY AND LBIAN COUPL
MENTAL HEALTH LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR (LGBT) YOUTH
* gay emotion regulation *
Published fal eded form as:PMCID: PMC4887282NIHMSID: NIHMS789458AbstractToday’s lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) youth e out at younger ag, and public support for LGBT issu has dramatilly creased, so why do LGBT youth ntue to be at high risk for promised mental health?
Keywords: LGBT, sexual orientatn, genr inty, youthINTRODUCTIONIn the perd of only two s, there has been dramatic emergence of public and scientific awarens of lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) liv and issu.
MORY STRS, EMOTN REGULATN, AND EXECUTIVE FUNCTN: AN EXPERIMENTAL INVTIGATN OF GAY AND LBIAN ADULTS
Gay and bisexual men (GBM) report high rat of sexual pulsivy (SC), yet no empirilly based treatments exist. An terventn based on the Unified Protol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotnal Disorrs was pilot tted a sample of 13 HIV-posive GBM wh SC. Participants ple … * gay emotion regulation *
This awarens n be traced to larger soccultural shifts unrstandgs of sexual and genr inti, cludg the emergence of the “gay rights” movement the 1970s and the advent of HIV/AIDS the 1980s. Yet the first public and rearch attentn to young LGBTs foced explicly on mental health: A small number of studi the 1980s began to intify ncerng rat of reported suicidal behavr among “gay” youth, and a US feral report on “gay youth suici” (Gibson 1989) beme ntroversial both polics and rearch (Rsell 2003).
Most of the knowledge base has foced on sexual inti (and historilly mostly on gay and lbian inti), wh much ls empiril study of mental health among transgenr or genr-nonnformg youth.
Historil trends social acceptance the Uned Stat show, for example, that 43% of US adults agreed that “gay or lbian relatns between nsentg adults should be legal” 1977; by 2013 that number had grown to 66% (Gallup 2015). Historil trends societal attus, age trends peer attus, and the cle ag at which lbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth e out. Durg adolcence, youth general report stronger prejudicial attus and more equent homophobic behavr at younger ag (Poteat & Anrson 2012).
THE INDIRECT EFFECT OF EMOTN REGULATN ON MORY STRS AND PROBLEMATIC SUBSTANCE USE LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL INDIVIDUALS
Same-sex timate partner vlence (SSIPV) is a ser health ncern and may manift var forms. Neverthels, ntrollg behavrs of isolatn are still poorly vtigated. Due to their margalized stat, sexual mori n face SSIPV-specific risk factors, such as ternalized homonegativy, as well as general psychologil strs factors, such as emotn dysregulatn. While the lerature is growg, there is still a lack of unrstandg of the plex pathways lkg sexual mori and mory strs to IPV and isolatg ntrollg behavr. To fill this gap, we explored the relatn between ternalized homonegativy and ntrollg behavrs of isolatn, asssg the mediatg role of emotn dysregulatn. In total, 120 gay and lbian people (mean age = 33.8, SD = 11.5) volved a same-sex relatnship participated the study. Rults showed a direct and posive associatn between ternalized homonegativy and difficulti emotn regulatn and a direct and posive associatn between emotn dysregulatn and ntrollg behavrs of isolatn; the mediatg role of emotn dysregulatn the relatn between ternalized homonegativy and isolatg ntrollg behavrs was supported as well. Emergg rults n provi valuable rmatn at the clil level, although further studi are need to nfirm the prelimary fdgs. * gay emotion regulation *
2014) sum, chang societal acceptance of LGBT people have ma g out possible for ntemporary youth, yet the age of g out now tersects wh the velopmental perd characterized by potentially tense terpersonal and social regulatn of genr and sexualy, cludg homophobia.
We then highlight studi that foc on factors that protect and foster rilience among LGBT to the 1970s, the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn’s (APA’s) Diagnostic and Statistil Manual of Mental Disorrs (DSM) listed homosexualy as a “socpathic personaly disturbance” (Am. 1948, 1953) and psychologil parisons between heterosexual and gay men (Hooker 1957) fostered a change attus om the psychologil muny and motivated the APA’s removal of homosexualy as a mental disorr 1973 (although all ndns related to same-sex attractn were not removed until 1987). Over the past 50 years, the psychologil disurse regardg same-sex sexualy shifted om an unrstandg that homosexualy was trsilly lked wh poor mental health toward unrstandg the social termants of LGBT mental health.
ATTACHMENT AND EMOTN REGULATN: A CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARATIVE STUDY OF IRANIAN AND DUTCH GAY MEN
Generally, Meyer (2003) poss three strs procs om distal to proximal: (a) objective or external strsors, which clu stctural or stutnalized discrimatn and direct terpersonal teractns of victimizatn or prejudice; (b) one’s expectatns that victimizatn or rejectn will occur and the vigilance related to the expectatns; and (c) the ternalizatn of negative social attus (often referred to as ternalized homophobia). Conceptual mol of ntextual fluenc on lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) youth mental health and associated implitns for polici, programs, and practice. When parg the fdgs to mental health diagnosis rat the general populatn, the difference is stark: Almost 18% of lbian and gay youth participants met the creria for major prsn and 11.
In their meta-analysis, Marshal and lleagu (2011) found that bisexual youth reported more suicidaly than lbian and gay youth.
FEASIBILY OF AN EMOTN REGULATN INTERVENTN TO IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH AND RCE HIV TRANSMISSN RISK BEHAVRS FOR HIV-POSIVE GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN WH SEXUAL COMPULSIVY
As a rult, lbian and gay youth livg unti wh fewer sexual orientatn and genr inty (SOGI)-specific antibullyg polici are twice as likely to report past-year suici attempts than youth livg areas where the polici were more monplace (Hatzenbuehler & Key 2013) wh school environments, is also important to nsir youths’ muny ntext. E., those wh more protectns for same-sex upl, greater number of registered Democrats, prence of gay-straight allianc (GSAs) schools, and SOGI-specific nondiscrimatn and antibullyg polici] are ls likely to attempt suici even after ntrollg for other risk ditors, such as a history of physil abe, prsive symptomatology, drkg behavrs, and peer victimizatn (Hatzenbuehler 2011). Importantly, although rat of bullyg crease over the urse of the adolcent years, this trend is ls pronounced for gay and bisexual pared to heterosexual mal, leavg the youth vulnerable to the experienc for longer perds of time (Robson et al.
Further, the vulnerabili to SOGI-biased-based bullyg are not unique to LGBT youth: Studi also dite that heterosexual youth report poor mental and behavral health as the rult of homophobic victimizatn (Poteat et al.
AN EXAMATN OF EMOTN REGULATN AS A MECHANISM UNRLYG EATG DISORR PATHOLOGY LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL DIVIDUALS
Youth livg stat wh enumerated antibullyg laws that clu sexual orientatn and genr inty report ls homophobic victimizatn and harassment than do stunts who attend schools stat whout the protectns (Kosciw et al. For example, Poteat (2015) found that youth who engage more LGBT-based discsns wh peers and who have LGBT iends are more likely to participate LGBT-affirmg behavr and tervene when hearg homophobic remarks (see also Kosciw et al.
EMOTNALLY GAY
Rults om a three-year longudal study showed that parison to LGB youth who dated other-sex partners, those who dated same-sex partners experienced an crease self-teem and a crease ternalized homophobia for men and women, rpectively (Bermeister et al. At one extreme, the Tennsee legislature failed to pass the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would have ma illegal for teachers to discs homosexualy wh stunts; at the other, the “Mental Health Servic for At-Risk Youth” bill California allows youth ag 12 to 17 to nsent to mental health treatment whout parental permissn and was signed to enable LGBT youth to seek mental health servic pennt of parental nsent.
2008): In a sample of adult gay men, experienc of parental sexual orientatn–related rejectn was a strong predictor of gay-related rejectn sensivy, pecially among those who reported high levels of ternalized homophobia. Although the studi were nducted wh adults (and one se was limed to gay men), rults pot to the potential of clil terventns that foc on analysis of the meangs and experienc associated wh stigma-related rejectn.
For example, a study of 77 gay male llege stunts showed that young gay men’s psychosocial functng (cludg openns wh their sexual orientatn) was improved through exprsive wrg that targeted gay-related strs, pecially for those who reported lower social support or who wrote about more severe topics (Pachankis & Goldied 2010).
INTERNALIZED HOMONEGATIVY, EMOTN DYSREGULATN, AND ISOLATG BEHAVRS PERPETRATN AMONG GAY AND LBIAN COUPL
A new study by Pachankis and lleagu (2015) reports on the first randomized clil ntrol trial to asss the efficy of an adapted gnive-behavral therapy (CBT) approach wh young adult gay and bisexual men. Notably, the treatment also rced sensivy to rejectn, ternalized homophobia, and matn, and creased emotnal regulatn, perceived social support, and assertivens.
GlossaryLGBTlbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr; some scholars clu Q to refer to queer or qutngMental healthbroadly fed to clu mental health ditors (i. E., substance e)Genr intyone’s sense and subjective experience of genr (malens/femalens), which may or may not be nsistent wh birth sexSexual orientatnendurg sense of emotnal, sexual attractn to others based on their sex/genrSOGIsexual orientatn and genr intyGSAGay-Straight Alliance school clubSexual intyself-label to scribe one’s sexual orientatn, such as lbian, gay, bisexual, or straightCBOmuny-based anizatnFootnotDISCLOSURE STATEMENTThe thors are not aware of any affiliatns, memberships, fundg, or fancial holdgs that might be perceived as affectg the objectivy of this review.