Nuno Pinto

Effects of Age on Spiritual Well-being and Homonegativity: Religious Identity and Practices Among LGB Persons in Portugal

The present study explored the effects of age on spiritual well-being and internalized homonegativity among Portuguese lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) persons. A set of questionnaires were filled out by 471 LGB participants using the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identity Scale; the Spiritual Well-being Scale; and the Multidimensional Measurement of Religiousness and Spirituality. While most participants had been raised Catholic, only 17% currently belonged to a religious denomination. Participants higher in religious well-being were more likely to have concerns in concealing their sexual identity. Existential well-being was related to higher identity affirmation. Older participants reported better spiritual well-being and lower homonegativity.

Sexual orientation and gender identity: review of concepts, controversies and their relation to psychopathology classification systems

Numerous controversies and debates have taken place throughout the history of psychopathology (and its main classification systems) with regards to sexual orientation and gender identity. These are still reflected on present reformulations of gender dysphoria in both the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual and the International Classification of Diseases, and in more or less subtle micro-aggressions experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans patients in mental health care. The present paper critically reviews this history and current controversies. It reveals that this deeply complex field contributes (i) to the reflection on the very concept of mental illness; (ii) to the focus on subjective distress and person-centered experience of psychopathology; and (iii) to the recognition of stigma and discrimination as significant intervening variables. Finally, it argues that sexual orientation and gender identity have been viewed, in the history of the field of psychopathology, between two poles: gender transgression and gender variance/fluidity.