Sondra E. Solomon

Three-year follow-up of same-sex couples who had civil unions in Vermont, same-sex couples not in civil unions, and heterosexual married couples.

This study was a 3-year follow-up of 65 male and 138 female same-sex couples who had civil unions in Vermont during the 1st year of that legislation. These couples were compared with 23 male and 61 female same-sex couples in their friendship circles who did not have civil unions and with 55 heterosexual married couples (1 member of each was a sibling to a member of a civil union couple). Despite the legalized nature of their relationships, civil union couples did not differ on any measure from same-sex couples who were not in civil unions. However, same-sex couples not in civil unions were more likely to have ended their relationships than same-sex civil union or heterosexual married couples. Compared with heterosexual married participants, both types of same-sex couples reported greater relationship quality, compatibility, and intimacy and lower levels of conflict. Longitudinal predictors of relationship quality at Time 2 included less conflict, greater level of outness, and a shorter relationship length for men in same-sex relationships and included less conflict and more frequent sex for women in same-sex relationships at Time 1.

Relationship Satisfaction, Affectivity, and Gay-Specific Stressors in Same-Sex Couples Joined in Civil Unions

Relationship satisfaction, affect, and stress were examined in 313 same-sex couples who had had civil unions in Vermont during the first year of this legislation. Similarity between partners on age and on positive/negative affectivity was related to relationship satisfaction whereas there was no association with similarity in income, education, and outness. Lesbian couples (n = 199), compared to gay male couples, reported experiencing more stress related to family reaction to their sexuality, whereas gay male couples (n = 114) reported more stress surrounding the issues of HIV/AIDS and violence/harassment than did lesbian couples. This study is the first to examine within-couple factors among same-sex couples with legalized relationships.

The interaction of mindful-based attention and awareness and disengagement coping with HIV/AIDS-related stigma in regard to concurrent anxiety and depressive symptoms among adults with HIV/AIDS.

This investigation examined the interaction of disengagement coping with HIV/AIDS-related stigma and mindful-based attention and awareness in regard to anxiety and depressive symptoms among people with HIV/AIDS. There was a significant interaction in regard to anxiety symptoms. Higher levels of disengagement coping paired with lower levels of mindful-based attention and awareness was related to the greatest degrees of anxiety symptoms, while lower levels of disengagement coping paired with higher levels of mindful-based attention and awareness was related to the lowest levels of anxiety symptoms. Although the interaction for depressive symptoms was not significant, a similar pattern of results was observed.

Incremental Validity of Mindfulness‐Based Attention in Relation to the Concurrent Prediction of Anxiety and Depressive Symptomatology and Perceptions of Health

This investigation evaluated the role of mindfulness‐based attention in concurrently predicting anxiety and depressive symptomatology and perceived health functioning in a community sample of 170 young adults (95 females; mean age (Mage) = 22.2 years, SD = 7.6). Partially consistent with prediction, results indicated that, relative to negative and positive affectivity and emotional expression and processing associated with approach‐oriented coping, mindfulness‐based attention incrementally predicted anhedonic depressive, but not anxious arousal, symptoms. Additionally, consistent with prediction, mindfulness‐based attention demonstrated incremental validity in relation to perceived health, and the degree of impairment of health in terms of physical and mental functioning. Results are discussed in relation to the construct development of mindfulness‐based attention, and specifically, the role(s) of this factor in emotional and physical health processes.

Size Matters: Community Size, HIV Stigma, & Gender Differences

Conclusions regarding HIV stigma in rural areas are hampered by lack of agreement about rural classification. This investigation examined perceptions of HIV stigma among males and females with HIV/AIDS in metropolitan, micropolitan, and rural areas. Two-hundred people with HIV/AIDS completed a measure of perceived HIV stigma. Their county or town of residence was used to classify community size. Results indicated that community size was related to one aspect of perceived stigma, disclosure concerns, differently for men and women. Rural women reported more disclosure concerns than did metropolitan and micropolitan women. They also reported more disclosure concerns than rural men. Men in micropolitan communities reported more disclosure concerns than men in rural areas and tended to report more disclosure concerns than men in metropolitan areas. Understanding the relationship of community size to HIV stigmatization requires acknowledging that many communities are neither urban nor rural, and it requires considering gender differences.

Comparison of Same-Sex Couples Who Were Married in Massachusetts, Had Domestic Partnerships in California, or Had Civil Unions in Vermont

This study compared 55 men and 78 women who had same-sex marriages in Massachusetts, 101 men and 120 women who had domestic partnerships in California, and 35 men and 86 women who had civil unions in Vermont, all in 2004. Couples were surveyed on demographic and relationship information, conflict, contact with family of origin, social support, politics, and leisure activities. There were few interstate differences, although couples in Massachusetts were more politically liberal and more sympathetic toward feminism than were couples in other states. There were, however, a number of gender differences. As compared to women, men were older and had waited longer to legalize their relationships; they were also more exclusively gay and less likely to have children. More than 90% of all couples were registered to vote and had voted in the last national election.

Cardiophobia: a critical analysis.

Cardiophobia, a clinical syndrome that affects hundreds of thousands of individuals in the USA, is characterized by abrupt, recurrent sensations and pain in the chest in the absence of physical pathology. This conceptual article seeks to address the significance of cardiophobia in western culture and to distinguish it from related disorders. In addition, a model of cardiophobia that highlights the role of heart-focused anxiety and interoceptive conditioning in the generation of limited-symptom panic attacks and acute chest pain is presented and vulnerability factors for cardiophobia are discussed. Future research directions relevant to the assessment and treatment of this clinically significant phenomenon are reviewed.

Exploration of the Relevance of Anxiety Sensitivity among Adults Living with HIV/AIDS for Understanding Anxiety Vulnerability

This investigation explored facets of anxiety sensitivity (AS—social, physical and mental concerns) in regard to somatization, anxiety and depression symptoms among people with HIV/AIDS. Significant relations were found for AS-physical concerns and somatization symptoms (β = .52, p = .007) and AS-mental concerns and anxiety symptoms (β = .29, p < .05), controlling for negative affectivity, gender and shared variance with other AS subscales. Together, AS subscales were significantly related to depression symptoms (ΔR2 = .11; p = .006), but no one subscale was independently related. Findings are discussed in terms of examining AS in better understanding the HIV/AIDS—anxiety relation.

Community Norms About Suppression of AIDS-Related Prejudice and Perceptions of Stigma by People With HIV or AIDS:

We investigated the relationship between community motivations to control AIDS-related prejudice and the experience of stigma by community members with HIV or AIDS, using self-reports from 203 New England residents with HIV or AIDS and 2,444 randomly selected residents of the same New England communities. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that the disclosure concerns of participants with HIV or AIDS were lower in communities where residents were motivated by personal values to control AIDS-related prejudice, and were higher in communities where residents were motivated by social pressure to control AIDS-related prejudice. Reported experiences with discrimination and exclusion were unrelated to community motivations. The results of our study suggest that external and internal pressures to control prejudice shape the experience of stigmatization.

Siblings and Sexual Orientation

Abstract Lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (LGBs) often have heterosexual siblings. The authors have conducted several research projects comparing siblings of different sexual orientations, given that siblings usually have the same ethnicity, race, parental socioeconomic status, and religious background. This review article presents research on LGBs and heterosexuals, all recruited via siblings. In general, heterosexual siblings are more mainstream in terms of being in long-term relationships, having children, belonging to a formal religion, and having more contact with their family of origin. LGB siblings are more politically liberal, more highly educated, and have moved away from their families of origin. The article speculates about how siblings who grow up in the same families could be so demographically different in adulthood.