Sexual Inty Development among Gay, Lbian, and Bisexual Youths: Consistency and Change Over Time - PMC

Contents:

• QUIZ - QUTN 1 3 OUT OF 3 POTS THE GAY INTY...
• A MOL OF GAY, LBIAN, AND BISEXUAL INTY DEVELOPMENT
• THE GAY INTY VELOPMENT PROCS A IS A FAIRLY
• SEXUAL INTY DEVELOPMENT AMONG GAY, LBIAN, AND BISEXUAL YOUTHS: CONSISTENCY AND CHANGE OVER TIME
• LBIAN AND GAY PARENTG

QUIZ - QUTN 1 3 OUT OF 3 POTS THE GAY INTY...

Qutn 1 3 out of 3 pots The gay inty velopment procs Qutn 2 3 out of 3 pots Laws some stat rtrictg same-sex parent adoptn is an example of  Qutn 3 3 out of 3 pots Major goals of gay affirmative unselg clu Qutn 4 3 out of 3 pots The number of lbian, gay, and bisexual Amerins is timated to total  Qutn 5 0 out of 3 pots Approximately __________ of LGBTQI stunts have been verbally harassed schools. Although youths who nsistently intified as gay/lbian did not differ om other youths on time sce experiencg sexual velopmental ton, they reported current sexual orientatn and sexual behavrs that were more same-sex centered and they sred higher on aspects of the inty tegratn procs (e.

G., more certa, fortable, and acceptg of their same-sex sexualy, more volved gay-related social activi, more posssg of posive attus toward homosexualy, and more fortable wh others knowg about their sexualy) than youths who transed to a gay/lbian inty and youths who nsistently intified as bisexual. Inty formatn nsists of beg aware of one’s unfoldg sexual orientatn, begng to qutn whether one may be GLB, and explorg that emergg GLB inty by beg volved gay-related social activi and/or sexual activi (Cass, 1979; Chapman & Brannock, 1987; Morris, 1997; Troin, 1989). This is evint by the dividual g to accept a GLB inty, rolvg ternalized homophobia by transformg negative attus to posive attus, feelg fortable wh the ia that others may know about the unfoldg inty, and disclosg that inty to others (Morris, 1997; Rosar et al., 2001).

Given ngence theory, we hypothize that youths wh a nsistent gay/lbian inty would have a sexual orientatn that is more same-sex centered and would be more likely to report same-sex behavrs but ls likely to report other-sex behavrs than youths who, for example, recently transed om a bisexual inty to a gay/lbian inty. In an earlier report on our sample, we found that youths who self-intified as gay/lbian, as pared wh bisexual, were volved more gay-related social activi, endorsed more posive attus toward homosexualy, were more fortable wh other dividuals knowg about their same-sex sexualy, and disclosed their sexual inty to more dividuals (Rosar et al., 2001). We hypothize that nsistently intified gay/lbian youths have a current sexual orientatn that is more same-sex centered, report a higher prevalence of sexual behavr wh the same sex but a lower prevalence of sexual behavr wh the other sex, and evince higher levels of inty tegratn than youths who have changed sexual inti or nsistently intified as bisexual.

A MOL OF GAY, LBIAN, AND BISEXUAL INTY DEVELOPMENT

The equali are such that we hypothize that youths who have transed om a bisexual to a gay/lbian inty are more likely than nsistently bisexual youths to have a current sexual orientatn that is more same-sex centered, report a higher prevalence of sexual behavr wh the same sex but a lower prevalence of sexual behavr wh the other sex, and evince higher levels of inty tegratn.

Certaty About, Comfort Wh, and Self-Acceptance of Sexualy At the 6-month and 12-month asssments, ems were add to asss the mment of the youths to their gay/lbian inty or to that part of their bisexual inty that was centered on the same sex (Rosar, Hunter, & Gwadz, 1994). Over the three subsequent asssments, the number of youths intifyg as gay/lbian creased, while the number of youths intifyg as only bisexual 1Sexual Inty at Every Asssment BaseleBasele6 months12 monthsOnly gay/lbian39%66%74%74%Both gay/lbian and bisexual39%nananaOnly bisexual22%31%23%19%Straightna1%4%5%Otherna2%0%1%Neher gay/lbian nor bisexual1%0%0%0%(n)(156)(156)(142)(140)The above examatn of sexual inty over time ignor potential chang wh youths of different sexual inti. Asssment PerdBasele6 months12 monthsGay/LbianBisexualGay/LbianBisexualGay/LbianBisexualInty Reported Prr to Basele (N = 155): Only gay/lbian (n = 60)100%0%93%7%98%2% Both gay/lbian and bisexual (n = 60)71%29%77%23%80%20% Only bisexual (n = 35)6%94%40%60%40%60%Inty Reported at Basele (N = 152): Gay/lbian (n = 103)93%7%93%7% Bisexual (n = 49)41%59%49%51%Inty Reported at Six Months (N = 137): Gay/lbian (n = 105)96%4% Bisexual (n = 32)30%70%Individual-Level Chang Sexual Inty Over TimeAs valuable as the aforementned data may be, they are limed bee the level of analysis is the sample rather than the dividual.

Therefore, at the dividual-level of analysis, we created profil for each youth of the change sexual inty over the four longudal tim (see Table 3), rultg three major groups posed of youths who (1) nsistently self-intified as gay/lbian, (2) transed om bisexual to gay/lbian inti, or (3) nsistently self-intified as bisexual. Youths monstratg other patterns of change sexual inty also are prented Table 3; however, there were too few such youths for cln subsequent 3Individual-Level Consistency and Change Sexual Inty Over TimeSelf-Intified Sexual IntyN%Consistently gay/lbian8757%Transed om bisexual to gay/lbian2718%Consistently bisexual2215%Transed om gay/lbian to bisexual85%Transed om bisexual to straight53%Transed om gay/lbian to straight32%Change Sexual Inty: Univariate RelatnsWe ed a seri of one-way ANOVAs to pare the three GLB sexual inty groups (i.

THE GAY INTY VELOPMENT PROCS A IS A FAIRLY

Consistently gay/lbian youths had their first discsn about same-sex sexualy wh another dividual and were volved a gay-related social activy for at least a year longer than eher of the other two groups of 4Differenc Time Sce Developmental Milton by Change Sexual IntyYears sce first:Change Sexual Inty. Furthermore, nsistently gay/lbian youths were volved more gay-related social activi, endorsed more posive attus toward homosexualy, and were more fortable wh other dividuals knowg about their 5Differenc Sexual Orientatn, Sexual Behavrs, and the Inty Integratn Procs by Change Sexual IntyChange Sexual Inty.

SEXUAL INTY DEVELOPMENT AMONG GAY, LBIAN, AND BISEXUAL YOUTHS: CONSISTENCY AND CHANGE OVER TIME

Consistently gay/lbian youths also reported volvement more gay-related activi, more posive attus toward homosexualy, and more fort wh others knowg about their homosexualy than nsistently bisexual and transed 7Multivariate Comparisons of Sexual Orientatn, Sexual Behavrs, and the Inty Integratn Procs Among Sexual Inty Change GroupsChange Sexual Inty. In general, youths who transed om a bisexual to a gay/lbian inty beme more like the nsistently gay/lbian and ls like the nsistently bisexual youths over the urse of the RevisedAlthough we found genr differenc among our three sexual inty groups, such a fdg do not addrs whether velopmental procs are siar among the genrs. The fdgs suggt that, although there were youths who nsistently self-intified as bisexual throughout the study, for other youths a bisexual inty served as a transnal inty to a subsequent gay/lbian the dividual level, we found three patterns of sexual inty over time: nsistently gay/lbian, transg om bisexual to gay/lbian, and nsistently bisexual.

LBIAN AND GAY PARENTG

This fdg of nsistency is siar to past rearch (Diamond, 2000: 70%), spe differenc between the two sampl on genr, ethnicy, recment se, and length of who changed sexual inti were hypothized to report experiencg psychosexual and socsexual ton of inty formatn more recently than youths whose sexual inty remaed nsistently gay/lbian.

The differenc sexual orientatn and sexual behavr between nsistently gay/lbian youths and youths who transed to a gay/lbian inty suggt that, even after adoptg a gay/lbian inty, discrepanci between the new inty and subsequent sexual orientatn and behavr ntue to exist. Th, acceptance, mment, and tegratn of a gay/lbian inty is an ongog velopmental procs that, for many youths, may extend through adolcence and hypothized, nsistently bisexual youths sred signifintly lower than nsistently gay/bisexual youths on most markers of inty tegratn. Unlike heterosexual parents and their children, however, lbian and gay parents and their children are often subject to prejudice bee of their sexual orientatn that n turn judg, legislators, profsnals, and the public agast them, sometim rultg negative out, such as loss of physil ctody, rtrictns on visatn, and prohibns agast adoptn (ACLU Lbian and Gay Rights Project, 2002; Appell, 2003; Patterson, Fulcher, & Waright, 2002).

The relevance of this cricism has been greatly rced as rearch has expand to explore life a wir array of lbian mother and gay father fai (many of which have never lived through the divorce of a heterosexual uple), and as newer studi beg to clu a wir array of ntrol groups. An expert readg of the Sarantakos article reveals that certa characteristics of s methodology and sample are highly likely to have skewed the rults and renred them an valid ditor of the well-beg of children raised by gay and lbian parents at least three rpects:.