The Role of Social Support and Gay Inty the Strs Procs of a Sample of Csian Gay Men - PMC

Contents:

• SOCIAL ANXIETY YOUNG GAY MEN
• THE ROLE OF SOCIAL SUPPORT AND GAY INTY THE STRS PROCS OF A SAMPLE OF CSIAN GAY MEN
• ANXIETY GAY MEN: SOCIAL ANXIETY AND HOMOPHOBIA
• LBIAN, GAY, BI, TRANS: LGBTSOCIAL ANXIETY HELPLARRY COHEN, LICSWLBIAN, GAY, BI & TRANS (LGBT) CONCERNS
• INTEGRATED COGNIVE-BEHAVRAL THERAPY FOR SOCIAL ANXIETY AND HIV/STI PREVENTN FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN: A PILOT INTERVENTN TRIAL
• BREAKG THE ICE: GAY MEN’S CONVERSATNAL SKILLS AND HOW TO USE THERAPY TO OVERE SHYNS
• INTEGRATED COGNIVE BEHAVRAL THERAPY FOR SOCIAL ANXIETY AND HIV PREVENTN FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN☆

SOCIAL ANXIETY YOUNG GAY MEN

People who are LGBTQ+ (lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, qutng, or queer) may be at creased risk for social anxiety disorr (SAD) bee of the social ntext which they velop. Mory strs refers to chronic high levels of strs experienced by groups agast whom there is stigma, discrimatn, prejudice, and this se homophobia or transphobia.

The majory of gay and bisexual men have and mata good mental health, even though rearch has shown that they are at greater risk for mental health problems. However, ongog homophobia, stigma (negative and ually unfair beliefs), and discrimatn (unfairly treatg a person or group of people) n have negative effects on your health. Keepg your sexual orientatn hidn om others (beg “ the closet”) and fear of havg your sexual orientatn disclosed (beg “outed”) n add to the strs of beg gay or bisexual.

In general, rearch has shown that gay and bisexual men who are open about their sexual orientatn wh others have better health out than gay and bisexual men who do not. However, beg “out” some settgs and to people who react negatively n add to the strs experienced by gay and bisexual men, and n lead to poorer mental health and discrimatn. Mental health unselg and support groups that are sensive to the needs of gay and bisexual men n be pecially eful if you are g to terms wh your sexual orientatn or are experiencg prsn, anxiety, or other mental health problems.

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL SUPPORT AND GAY INTY THE STRS PROCS OF A SAMPLE OF CSIAN GAY MEN

While many gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex wh men may not seek re om a mental health provir bee of a fear of discrimatn or homophobia, is important to keep this as an optn and to fd a provir that is tstworthy and patible. If you’re lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, or queer(LGBTQ) or are explorg your sexual orientatn or genr inty, and you stggle wh anxiety or prsn, let’s start by puttg thgs to ntext. All of , whether gay, straight, cisgenr, or not — or somewhere between — are more than a nstellatn of the difficulti that we’ve had to face.

”The are among the mon re beliefs and unrlyg assumptns that generate problems wh social anxiety, shame and prsn among lbian, gay, bi or trans (LGBT*) dividuals the g out procs.

ANXIETY GAY MEN: SOCIAL ANXIETY AND HOMOPHOBIA

Young people who are lbian, gay, bi, trans or qutng are pecially vulnerable to this dynamic of social unacceptabily and the unhealthy re beliefs, social anxiety, shame and prsn that often velop as a rult. Fortunately, many who do e out as lbian, gay, bi or trans are creasgly met wh support and acceptance om some fay members, some iends, and some school and relig lears. Sadly, this support is still often absent for LGBT youth whose parents, peers, school and relig lears are equently non-acceptg–and often harshly nmng–of homosexualy and genr non-nonnformy.

LBIAN, GAY, BI, TRANS: LGBTSOCIAL ANXIETY HELPLARRY COHEN, LICSWLBIAN, GAY, BI & TRANS (LGBT) CONCERNS

But even after g out, many LGBT persons reta the sense of beg negatively different–not que right or acceptable some ways–even among other lbian, gay, bi and trans people. Cognive-behavral therapy (CBT) n help lbian, gay, bi, trans or qutng dividuals velop strategi and skills to intify, tt and change the stctive re beliefs and unrlyg assumptns.

Based on the assumptn that sexual mory dividuals are particularly sensive to the possible rejectn of others, the prent study examed the occurrence and rrelat of social anxiety symptomatology gay and heterosexual men. Eighty-seven heterosexual and 87 gay unrgraduate men between the ag of 18 and 24 pleted mon measur of social anxiety, self-teem, boyhood genr nformy, and a modified S-R Inventory of Anxns. Rults reveal that gay men reported greater fear of negative evaluatn and social teractn anxiety and lower self-teem than heterosexual men.

INTEGRATED COGNIVE-BEHAVRAL THERAPY FOR SOCIAL ANXIETY AND HIV/STI PREVENTN FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN: A PILOT INTERVENTN TRIAL

Gay men who are ls open about their sexual orientatn and those who are ls fortable wh beg gay were more likely to experience anxiety social teractns.

The modified S-R Inventory of Anxns was eful revealg that relatively nocuo suatns for heterosexual men n be anxiety-provokg for gay men. Childhood Genr Nonnformy and Relled Perceived Parental and Peer Acceptance Thereof, Internalized Homophobia, and Psychologil Well-Beg Out Heterosexual and Gay Men om Poland. Lkg racism and homonegativy to healthre system distst among young men of lor who have sex wh men: Evince om the Healthy Young Men's (HYM) study.

BREAKG THE ICE: GAY MEN’S CONVERSATNAL SKILLS AND HOW TO USE THERAPY TO OVERE SHYNS

Published fal eded form as:PMCID: PMC6133256NIHMSID: NIHMS934151AbstractThough rearch has monstrated that gay men suffer strs-related mental health dispari pared to heterosexuals, ltle is known about factors that protect gay dividuals om poor mental health and that buffer them the face of mory strs.

Usg a daily diary approach, the current study examed three factors that may protect dividuals om poor mental health: social support om iends, social support om fay, and gay inty.

Keywords: Gay Men, Mory Strs, Strs Bufferg, Daily DiaryAcross the life urse, gay men experience mental health dispari parison to heterosexual men (Instut of Medice, 2011). Data om small nvenience sampl, meta-analytic reviews, and populatn-based studi have shown higher prevalence rat for disorrs cludg major prsn, anxiety, and panic for gay men parison to heterosexual men (Cochran & Mays, 2013; Kg et al., 2008).

INTEGRATED COGNIVE BEHAVRAL THERAPY FOR SOCIAL ANXIETY AND HIV PREVENTN FOR GAY AND BISEXUAL MEN☆

Includ the strsors are distal strsors (those that occur outsi the mory dividual) such as overt acts of discrimatn, and proximal strsors (those emanatg om wh the mory dividual) such as perceptns of stigma and ternalized homophobia (Meyer, 1995, 2003, 2013). Data support the mory strs nceptualizatn: more exposure to discrimatn, perceived stigma, and ternalized homophobia are nsistently lked wh poorer mental and physil health (Fgerhut, Pepl & Gable, 2010; Frost, Lehavot, & Meyer, 2013; Meyer, 1995) health dispari among gay dividuals and the nnectn between the dispari and mory strs have been well tablished. Send is rearch intifyg factors that protect gay dividuals om poor mental health and that morate lks between mory strs and mental health (Hill & Gunrson, 2015; Meyer, 2015).

The current study b the l of quiry, g a daily diary methodology to exame the rol that social support and gay inty have bufferg gay dividuals om the negative nsequenc that often acpany exposure to mory strs.

Protective Factors Sexual Mory Mental HealthDpe existg environments that are stigmatizg, not all gay men suffer om poor mental health or react negatively the face of mory strs (Cochran & Mays, 2013). Two broad typ of social ti were nsired: ti to dividuals (operatnalized via social support) and ti to muny (operatnalized via gay inty) support as a protective mechanismSocial support plays a powerful role the health of humans. Addnally, a sample of lbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth, Doty, Willoughby, Ldahl, and Malik (2010) showed that creas social support, this se specifilly related to issu of sexualy, were associated wh ls psychologil distrs.