Arnold H. Grossman

Childhood Gender Atypicality, Victimization, and PTSD Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth

This study examined childhood gender atypicality, lifetime victimization based on sexual orientation, and current mental health, including trauma symptoms and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), among 528 lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth. Nearly 80% reported verbal victimization, 11% physical, and 9% sexual, with males reporting significantly more victimization. Victimization began, on average, at age 13. Verbal attacks occurred as early as age 6, physical attacks at 8, and sexual attacks at 9. Youth who were considered gender atypical in childhood reported more victimization and more current mental health symptoms. PTSD was found in 9% of youth and was associated with past physical victimization.

Disclosure of Sexual Orientation, Victimization, and Mental Health Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Older Adults

This study examined the lifetime victimization based on sexual orientation of 416 lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) older adults aged 60 or older. Participants reported the ages at which they were aware of their sexual orientation, self-identified as LGB, and first disclosed their sexual orientation to anyone. Frequencies of nine kinds of verbal and physical victimization were obtained. Nearly three quarters reported some kind of sexual orientation victimization. Men reported more overall victimization than women. The more open participants were about their sexual orientation and the less time they spent before disclosing their sexual orientation, the more victimization they reported. Physical victimization was associated with earlier achievement of sexual orientation milestones and more time being open about ones sexual orientation. Participants who had been physically attacked reported lower self-esteem, more loneliness, and poorer mental health than others. More suicide attempts were reported among those older adults who were physically attacked.

Aspects of Psychological Resilience among Transgender Youth

Fifty-five transgender youth described their gender development and some of the stressful life experiences related to their gender identity and gender expression. More than two-thirds of youth reported past verbal abuse by their parents or peers related to their gender identity and nonconformity, and approximately one-fifth to one-third reported past physical abuse. The more gender non-conforming the youth were, the more abuse they reported. Four aspects of psychological resilience were examined: a sense of personal mastery, self-esteem, perceived social support, and emotion-oriented coping. A regression model of the selected aspects of resilience accounted for 40%–55% of the variance in relation to depression, trauma symptoms, mental health symptoms, and internalizing and externalizing problems. Emotion-oriented coping was a significant predictor of negative mental health as determined by each of the mental health variables.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth Talk about Experiencing and Coping with School Violence: A Qualitative Study

This qualitative study used five focus groups of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth attending public high schools to examine their experiences with school violence. Core themes focused on lack of community and empowerment leading to youth being without a sense of human agency in school. Negative attention themes were indicative of the vulnerability that the youth felt at school. As principal means of coping, the LGBT youth escaped and avoided stressors by distancing themselves from school. From emergent themes of LGBT youths experiences of school violence, recommendations to make schools safe and supportive learning environments for them are provided. These included the need for policies and rules, peer education, planned educational activities, and in-service training for school personnel about LGBT youth to create inclusive school communities.

Lesbian and Gay Youth's Aspirations for Marriage and Raising Children

ABSTRACT One hundred and thirty-three lesbian and gay youth were interviewed about their interests in long-term relationships, same-sex marriage, and becoming parents. One-third of the males and one-half of the females considered future long-term relationships extremely important; 61% of the males and 82% of the females expected such relationships to be monogamous. One-third of the males and two-thirds of the females said they would very likely marry. Only 14% of the males and four females were disinterested in raising children. Counselors working with lesbian and gay youth should explore youths expectations for relationships and for child-rearing.

Researching Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth: Conceptual, Practical, and Ethical Considerations

ABSTRACT Developmental and educational researchers have overlooked the development of sexual orientation among adolescents and youth, even as they study sexual development and identity development during adolescence. This paper examines some conceptual, practical, and ethical considerations involved in conducting research on lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth. It addresses the limitations of current research and the core challenges of conducting such research. The design of a longitudinal study focused on the development of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth and the impact of stigmatization on their mental health is described to suggest approaches to the challenges inherent in this research.

Sexual Orientation Victimization and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth

This cross-sectional study utilized data gathered from 350 lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth, and examined the relationship between significant life experiences and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PSS), with an ultimate goal of analyzing contribution of sexual orientation victimization (SOV) to PSS among LGB youth. Results of bivariate analyses indicate that verbal and physical sexual orientation victimization, childhood gender atypicality, internalized homophobia, and stressful life events unrelated to sexual orientation were all individually related to PSS. Multivariate analysis showed that verbal and physical sexual orientation victimization explained a significant portion of variance, over and above the studys other variables. Internalized homophobia, stressful life events, and verbal sexual orientation victimization were found to be the most significant predictors of PSS among LGB youth.

Factors Associated with Parents’ Knowledge of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youths’ Sexual Orientation

This study examined factors associated with gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) youths’ parents’ knowledge of their childrens sexual orientation. Over a 2-year period, we studied 196 youths whose parents were aware or unaware of their childrens sexual orientation, and youths whose sexual orientation became known to their parents. Differences between youths in their sexual orientation development, psychosocial adjustment, support, victimization by parents, and involvement in GLB social activities were considered. Youths whose parents were aware of their sexual orientation indicated that they were more same-sex oriented and reported less internalized homophobia than youths in the other two groups. Youths whose sexual orientation became known had poorer parental relationships and also feared parental harassment and rejection.

Support Networks of Gay Male and Lesbian Youth

The support networks of 90 self-identified urban gay male and lesbian youth (ages 14 to 21 years) are examined. The youth, who are predominantly black and Latino/a, indicated an average of eight persons in their support networks, most of whom were close friends. Other significant groups included were parents, siblings, other relatives, and lovers or partners. A large majority of the support network members knew that the youth were gay or lesbian. Youth were moderately to very satisfied with the support they received from the network members—being more satisfied with the support provided by those who knew of their homosexuality compared to those who suspected or were unaware. Nonetheless, most youth felt that they did not have enough friends, and that they often to seldom felt lonely. These two feelings correlated positively with suicide ideation and attempts; and feeling lonely also correlated positively with drug use.

Attitudinal, social, and practical correlates to fitness behavior: A test of the theory of planned behavior

Professional management personnel (N = 73) who exercise were studied to assess the efficacy of the theory of planned behavior in predicting intention to exercise and amount of exercise. Four rating scales were used for the assessment of attitude toward fitness, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and intention to exercise. In addition, frequency of exercise was measured and recorded for five months. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that 26.6% of the variance of intention to exercise was contributed by both fitness attitude and subjective norm, with the unique contribution of attitude toward fitness (part r = .36) slightly greater than that of subjective norm (part r = .33). 8% of the unique variance of exercise was explained by intention to exercise. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses also indicated that perceived behavioral control did not account for a significant variance in intention to exercise but did account for a significant variance in amount of exercise (R2 change = .21). In the environment in which it was tested, results support the theory of planned behavior for understanding the exercise behavior of professional management personnel who exercise.