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PubMed1994

Depressive distress among homosexually active African American men and women.

OBJECTIVE: Although early surveys of psychological adjustment among gay men and lesbians suggest only minor and not clinically relevant differences from heterosexual populations, concerns about psychiatric morbidity associated with HIV infection have renewed interest in the prevalence of psychological distress in this population, particularly among gay men. These later studies have focused primarily on white men. However, research indicates higher crude prevalence rates of psychological distress in community-drawn samples of African American subjects than in white subjects and also higher rates in women than in men. The authors examined rates of depressive distress and suicidal thoughts among homosexually active African American men and women who might be especially at risk for psychiatric morbidity due to multiple stigmatized social statuses. METHOD: Two nationally recruited groups of homosexually active African Americans (829 men and 603 women) completed self-administered questionnaires, including the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. RESULTS: Homosexually active black women were as distressed as HIV-infected gay black men. Men with symptomatic HIV disease were significantly more distressed than men who were HIV infected but asymptomatic, HIV-antibody negative, or whose HIV status was unknown. Both men and women reported distress levels in excess of those previously reported in studies of blacks or primarily white gay men. CONCLUSIONS: Further research is needed to identify specific predictors of life stressors and lack of social support among homosexually active African Americans who appear to be at higher risk for depressive distress.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1995

Predicting patterns of sexual acts among homosexual and bisexual youths.

OBJECTIVE: This longitudinal study examined predictors of patterns of change in HIV sexual risk acts among homosexual and bisexual adolescent males. METHOD: A consecutive series of 136 homosexual and bisexual males aged 14-19 years were recruited into the study. Subjects were predominantly Hispanic (51%) and African American (31%) and seeking services at a homosexual-identified community-based agency in New York City. All subjects participated in an intensive HIV intervention program. Patterns of change in HIV sexual risk acts were based on assessments at four points (intake and 3, 6, and 12 months later) and were used to classify youths as demonstrating one of five patterns of anal and oral sexual acts: protected (anal: 45%, oral: 25%), improved (32% and 28%, respectively), relapse (5% and 8%), variable (8% and 15%), and unprotected (10% and 24%). Components of the health belief, self-efficacy, peer influence, coping, and distress models were assessed as predictors of these patterns. RESULTS: Protected and improved patterns of sexual risk acts were associated with low levels of anxiety, depression, and substance use and high self-esteem. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that HIV interventions must address non-HIV-related issues confronting youths in difficult life circumstances, particularly emotional distress and the role of peer networks for homosexual and bisexual youths.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1996

Homosexuality in men and number of older brothers.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated whether homosexual men have a higher mean birth order than heterosexual men primarily because they have more older brothers or because they have more older siblings of both sexes. METHOD: For the main analyses, 302 heterosexual men were individually matched on year of birth with an equal number of heterosexual men. Each completed a self-administered, anonymous questionnaire concerning family background and other biodemographic information. RESULTS: Logistic regression analysis showed that homosexuality was positively correlated with the proband's number of older brothers but not with older sisters, younger brothers, younger sisters, or parental age at the time of the proband's birth. Each additional older brother increased the odds of homosexuality by 33%. CONCLUSIONS: These results restrict the range of possible theories of the birth order phenomenon to those that can explain not only why older brothers increase the probability of homosexuality in later-born males but also why older sisters neither enhance this effect nor counteract it.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1987

Brief goal-limited couple therapy in the treatment of homosexuals.

Brief goal-limited homosexual couple therapy can provide a useful adjunct to individual therapy of homosexuals. Utilization of couple therapy in the treatment of two male homosexual patients is described. Some general differences are noted in the treatment of homosexual couples as contrasted with heterosexual couples. The therapeutic effect of this type of intervention combined with individual therapy is discussed.

Adult↗

PubMed1975

Concurrent validity of the Wheeler signs of homosexuality in the Rorschach: P (Ci/Rj).

The Rorschach protocols of 43 males consecutively admitted to a university outpatient clinic were scored for frequency of the 20 Wheeler signs of homosexuality. Based on case history data, patients were assigned to homosexual, sex-role disturbed, or normal-control groups. In addition to the traditional group comparison the results were analyzed to yield P (Ci/Rj); that is, the probability of criterion group membership given test indicator. Both the homosexual and sex-role disturbed group displayed significantly more Wheeler signs than normals. Furthermore, given a Wheeler sign score of 15%, .75 of the predicted-homosexual group would be correctly classified compared to a .21 baserate prediction. It was suggested that expressing results as P (Ci/Rj) provides information more relevant to the clinician than is provided by the traditional practice of reporting significant differences between groups.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Chlamydia trachomatis infection and non-gonococcal urethritis in homosexual and heterosexual men in Edinburgh.

In 1998, when ligase chain reaction testing for chlamydial infection was introduced in our clinic in Edinburgh, routine clinic protocol included the testing of all heterosexual, but not homosexual, men for urethral chlamydial infection. We audited all new homosexual and bisexual male attendees with a diagnosis of chlamydial infection or non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) in 1999, together with heterosexual men with the same diagnoses attending in alternate months of the same year. Urethral Chlamydia trachomatis infection was detected in 14.6% (350/2402) of heterosexual men and 2.4% (11/465) of homosexual men tested. Fifty percent of chlamydial infections were asymptomatic. In this population 44% (84/190) of NGU in heterosexual men is attributable to C. trachomatis as opposed to only 10% (6/59) of that in homosexual men. These rates of chlamydial infection differ from previous reports in Scotland and recent studies from the USA. Our clinic protocol has been revised to include routine testing for chlamydial infection in all men.

Ambulatory Care↗

PubMed1977

Tolerance as a correlate of experience with stigma: the case of the homosexual.

Scales measuring attitudes toward various unconventional groups were presented to 100 college students and 51 homosexual respondents. Homosexual respondents expressed significantly more tolerant attitudes toward deviantly labeled groups than did student respondents. Homosexuals were also significantly less likely to place social restrictions on those who opted for unconventional alternatives. However, differences between student and homosexual respondents were smaller on the public tolerance scale. The findings suggest that although gays expressed a significantly higher amount of tolerance for other unconventional groups, they appeared to have reservations in terms of total personal acceptance.

Attitude↗

PubMed1977

Media mating I: newspaper "personals" ads of homosexual men.

Based on a design used in previous research with heterosexuals "Personals" advertisements, this study reports a content analysis of 359 ads placed by male homosexuals. Following exchange theory, it was hypothesized that, as with heterosexuals, a favorable presentation of self would characterize the advertisements. Further hypotheses predicted that homosexual ads would be more frank than are heterosexual ads and more specific about goals for desired relationships, and that homosexual ads would reflect the "virilization" of the male homosexual subculture. All predictions were strongly supported. The overtly sexual explicitness of many of the advertisements was explained on the basis of differences between same- and cross-sex relationships, and male/female differences in conceptualizing "love."

Adult↗

PubMed1979

Homosexual identity formation: a theoretical model.

A six-stage model of homosexual identity formation is outlined within the framework of interpersonal congruency theory. Stages are differentiated on the basis of the person's perceptions of his/her own behavior and the actions that arise as a consequence of this perception. The person is seen to have an active role in the acquisition of a homosexual identity. Alternative paths of development are proposed within each stage. The notion that people can accept homosexuality as a positively valued status is assumed. Several factors believed to be influential in determining whether a person takes one line of development or another are discussed. The model is intended to be applied to both female and male homosexuals.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1979

Representations of homosexuality in health science textbooks.

Discussions of homosexual behavior in 35 publications (textbooks, trade books, pamphlets) in the fields of health science and sex education were reviewed. Ten books referred to the subject. Major findings of the study were: homosexual behavior receives significant attention in only 1 of the 10 publications; discussions of homosexuality contain a number of hidden biases; a large number of factual errors can be identified in most publications; and most authors seem to believe that homosexual behavior may be tolerated during adolescence but, at the same time, should be a source of concern to teenagers.

Attitude↗

PubMed1979

Deep fellowship: homosexuality and male bonding in the life and fiction of Joseph Conrad.

Conrad's biography reveals only peripheral, though suggestive, awareness of homosexuality. His fiction, however, shows a continuing concern with some underlying features of female and male homosexuality. Suggestions of a positive view of homoerotic relations can be discerned in the strong works of his early career, specifically Lord Jim and "The Secret Sharer." The later novels and stories, usually characterized as sentimental and conventional, dramatize an overt fear of homosexuality consistent with Conrad's hostile reaction to the Casement revelations. Chance features an evil lesbian, Victory an equally destructive homosexual male. Only the autobiographical A Shadow Line shows a return to the earlier positive attitude toward male bonding with sexual overtones. Scholars have been reluctant to notice these concerns, since Conrad is considered a "man's" writer.

Gender Identity↗

PubMed1980

Some cultural aspects of Greek male homosexuality.

A brief examination of Greek social structures, history, and cosmology reveals several points about the nature of, and attitudes towards, male homosexual practices in the classical period. First, due to the overwhelming importance of the Hellenic family, few men seem to have engaged exclusively in homosexual acts. Second, historical sources for Attica indicate that, although most men may have married, homosexual behavior was widespread among all levels of society and was considered no more opprobrious than heterosexual behavior. Third, the Greek cosmology, with its unbounded sexuality and constant blurring of sex roles, provided an atmosphere in which homosexuality was regarded by Athenians as neither irreligious nor unnatural.

Cultural Characteristics↗

PubMedDate not supplied

The dilemma of essentiality in homosexual theory.

A close examination of the literature on homosexuality reveals a long history of definitional crises in which the central consideration has been the maintenance of a belief in homosexuality as a state of being. This paper asks what, if anything, can be considered essential to the homosexual category. To answer this question, various approaches to homosexuality in the literature have been examined: as a general state of being (the person), as a state of desire (sexual orientation), as a form of behavior (sexual acts), and, more recently, as a personal identification (sexual identity). In addition, the interrelationships of these categorizations are explored.

Female↗

PubMed1984

Biological research on homosexuality: Ansell's cow or Occam's razor?

Research based on the assumption that homosexuality can be traced to heredity, prenatal brain differentiation, or effects of gonadotropins in adulthood is reviewed. From a biological standpoint the studies are deficient in several respects: More or less accurate methods of hormone assay, uncertainty over the process of brain sexual differentiation in humans, lack of agreement regarding the role of various gonadotropins in human behavior, small samples, and lack of controls. Moreover, the biological research is based on unwarranted assumptions about human sexuality, sex differences, and sexual orientation that have been imported from the social sciences and popular beliefs. The article questions why a biological basis for sexual orientation is expected, why biologists try to explain homosexuality but not heterosexuality, and what biologists mean by "homosexual." The author concludes that the biological research on homosexuality shows the ineluctable taint on "objective" science of personal beliefs and cultural prejudices.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1985

Mexican male homosexual interaction in public contexts.

In western societies, homosexuals must solve problems of how to recognize one another, meet and socialize while avoiding hostility and punishment. In the United States a preferred approach is to establish exclusive homosexual locales; but in Mexico, interaction problems are solved primarily in heterogeneous situations. The article shows how this is accomplished. The material is analyzed using game theory, a perspective which assumes that homosexual interaction exhibits qualities generally associated with games and can be analyzed utilizing concepts such as players, teams, rules, points, winning, and losing. The article also illustrates ways in which cultural determinants shape homosexual social organization in different western societies.

Culture↗

PubMed1985

Changes in labeling homosexuality in health sciences literature: a preliminary investigation.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the image of gay men and lesbian women in health sciences literature since the demedicalization of homosexuality by American psychiatry in 1973. The process of medicalization and demedicalization of any behavior labeled as deviant in American society has received scant attention until recently. In addition, labeling theory has for the most part ignored the labelers and the process by which powerful groups, in this instance American medicine and other health professions, influence the labeling process. Since the American Psychiatric Association's decision to demedicalize homosexuality from an illness to a "suboptimal condition," over 700 articles have been published in the health care literature about various aspects of homosexuality, including a continued debate about the health or illness classification of homosexuality. Literature reviewed for this investigation was limited to letters, policy statements, and editorials or articles written between 1974 and 1983 which were germane to the classification issue.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed1985

Conception of male and female homosexual stereotypes among university undergraduates.

Following the procedure used by Broverman, Broverman, Clarkson, Rosenkrantz, & Vogel (1970), male and female undergraduates described a male homosexual, lesbian, and normal adult in terms of 41 adjective rating scales, each scale having a masculine and a feminine pole. Results indicated that compared to ratings of the normal adult, the male homosexual was viewed unfavorably and was significantly different from "normality" on 27 scales. Ratings of the lesbian were closer to those for the normal adult, although significant differences appeared on 11 scales. Ratings for the lesbian differed significantly from those for the male homosexual on 20 scales. On all but two scales, lesbian ratings were closer to the more favorable pole than were male homosexual ratings. The position seems supported that male gender nonconformity is viewed more seriously than female gender nonconformity.

Female↗

PubMed1986

Femininity in men and masculinity in women: American psychiatry and psychology portray homosexuality in the 1930's.

Two influential studies of homosexuality are reviewed. Both were conducted in the United States in the 1930s and involved rather large samples of homosexual men and women. Each investigation concluded that homosexuality was linked to cross-gender identification. Consequently, these studies served as a justification for perpetuating a clear distinction between masculine and feminine roles. Consideration is given to the intellectual and social context within which the association of gender deviation and homosexuality was promulgated.

Female↗