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

Contents:

• SEXUAL ORIENTATN INTY DEVELOPMENT MILTON AMONG LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND QUEER PEOPLE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS
• SEXUAL INTY DEVELOPMENT AMONG GAY, LBIAN, AND BISEXUAL YOUTHS: CONSISTENCY AND CHANGE OVER TIME
• CHANG PSYCHOSOCIAL WELL-BEG DURG STAG OF GAY INTY VELOPMENT
• REVIEWSOCIAL PSYCHOLOGIL ASPECTS OF GAY INTY VELOPMENT
• DIFFERENT PATTERNS OF SEXUAL INTY DEVELOPMENT OVER TIME: IMPLITNS FOR THE PSYCHOLOGIL ADJTMENT OF LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL YOUTHS
• GAY INTY DEVELOPMENT
• AT WHAT AGE DO KIDS INTIFY AS GAY?

SEXUAL ORIENTATN INTY DEVELOPMENT MILTON AMONG LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND QUEER PEOPLE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

Frd theorized that homosexualy was a rult of problems that arise durg psychosexual velopment, such as boys beg overly attached to and intifyg wh their mother stead of their father, feelg tense stratn anxiety that leads boys to reject women bee they are “strated, ” and narcissistic self-obssn that leads boys to choose an object of attractn that rembl themselv (Lew, 1988). Bieber (1962, 1967, 1969) claimed that male homosexualy was ed by boys havg a posssive and overly volved mother, as well as a hostile or distant father; the dynamics led boys to bond wh their mother and prevented them om velopg their masculy, which led him to effemate homosexualy. For female homosexualy, Bieber (1967, 1969) claimed was ed by var parent-child relatnship dynamics, such as mothers beg overly rejectg and cril of their dghters, showg ltle warmth and affectn; this, bed wh “femizg” behavrs, such as not drsg their dghter pretty cloth and not teachg her okg and hoekeepg skills, ntributed to homosexualy.

Studi were clud the review if they met the followg creria: (1) llected data om lbian, gay, bisexual, and/or queer people about the timg of their inty velopment ton; (2) llected data the Uned Stat; (3) were wrten English; and (4) were published or pleted on or after January 1, 1990. E., the day the search were performed): (inty OR tone OR velopment) Abstract AND (gay OR lbian OR bisexual OR homosexual OR queer OR “sexual mory” OR “sexual mori”) Abstract AND (“sexual orientatn” Subjects for PsycINFO; sexualy Subject Headg for Soclogil Abstracts).

E., 60–76%) of gay/lbian participants wh smaller reprentatn of bisexual, queer, and other sexual mory inti; five studi had sampl of relatively equal numbers of gay/lbian and bisexual participants; three studi clud participants wh substantial reprentatn of gay/lbian, bisexual, and other sexual orientatn inti; one study nsisted of only bisexual participants; and three studi did not provi breakdowns for sexual orientatn inti.

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

In a study of gay/lbian women, there were no signifint differenc between Black and Hispanic/Lata women, but pared to women of lor, Whe women were signifintly later qutng their orientatn, self-intifyg as gay/lbian, g out, and havg a same-sex romantic relatnship (Parks et al., 2004). Among the seven studi that pared the timg of ton between gay/lbian and bisexual people their analys, most studi found that gay/lbian people reached the ton of attractn and self-intifyg signifintly earlier than bisexual people (Diamond, 1998; Maguen et al., 2002; Herek et al., 2010; Calzo et al., 2011; Martos et al., 2015; Hoenig, 2016; Katz-Wise et al., 2017a).

Siarly, another study found that sexual activy was earlier for gay men than bisexual men, wh no differenc among women; g out was earlier for gay/lbian women than bisexual women, wh no difference among men (Maguen et al., 2002). Supplementary Table 3 shows the rults of meta-analys of tone ag by sexual orientatn (bisexual and gay/lbian) based on data om four studi; two of the studi are the top tier of methodologil rigor and two are the send tier (Herek et al., 2010; Pew Rearch Center, 2013a; Fredriksen-Goldsen et al., 2017; Katz-Wise et al., 2017a); however, none of the studi examed the relatnship tone.

Given the soccultural prsure of heteronormativy, bisexual peopl’ attractns to multiple genrs, and their pacy to engage sexual behavrs and relatnships that may be viewed as heterosexual, there may be more nial, mimizatn, or uncertaty about their bisexual sexualy than for gay/lbian people. In addn, bee bisexualy as a legimate sexual orientatn has historilly been qutned, wh views that bisexualy is a transnal step between heterosexualy and homosexualy and that very few people are tly bisexual, people wh an emergg bisexual inty may feel more nfn and self-doubt about their inty than people wh monosexual orientatns (Brown, 2002; Roberts et al., 2015; Monro et al., 2017). 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.

CHANG PSYCHOSOCIAL WELL-BEG DURG STAG OF GAY INTY VELOPMENT

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. Keywords: Comg-out procs, sexual inty, sexual orientatn, sexual behavr, ternalized homophobia, gay, lbian, bisexual, adolcents, longudal, genr differencThe velopment of a gay, lbian, or bisexual (GLB) sexual inty is a plex and often difficult procs.

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).

REVIEWSOCIAL PSYCHOLOGIL ASPECTS OF GAY INTY VELOPMENT

Among 216 behavrally bisexual men (ag 18 – 30 years), Stok and lleagu (1997) found that over the urse of one year, 49% reported no chang sexual orientatn, 34% beme more homosexually oriented, and 17% more heterosexually oriented.

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.

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. Each ponent of the SERBAS-Y ed this report is discsed tail Inty A sgle em om the SERBAS-Y asssed sexual inty at every asssment perd by askg youths, “When you thk about sex, do you thk of yourself as lbian/gay, bisexual, or straight?

DIFFERENT PATTERNS OF SEXUAL INTY DEVELOPMENT OVER TIME: IMPLITNS FOR THE PSYCHOLOGIL ADJTMENT OF LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL YOUTHS

Youths also were asked about the age when they first thought they “might be” gay/lbian, when they first thought they “might be” bisexual, when they first thought they “really were” gay/lbian, and when they first thought they “really were” bisexual.

Attus Toward Homosexualy A 33-em sle adapted om the Nungser Homosexual Attus Inventory (Nungser, 1983) was modified for youths by simplifyg the language, makg more rmal, and generalizg the em ntent to clu both mal and femal.

Comfort wh Homosexualy A modified versn of the Nungser Homosexual Attus Inventory (see above for further scriptn; Nungser, 1983), was admistered at all three asssments g a 4-pot rponse sle rangg om “disagree strongly” (1) through “agree strongly” (4). 91 across the three asssments) of Sexual Inty to Others Youths were asked at basele to enumerate “all the people your life who are important or were important to you and whom you told that you are (lbian/gay/bisexual)” (Rosar et al., 2001).

GAY INTY DEVELOPMENT

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. 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.

AT WHAT AGE DO KIDS INTIFY AS GAY?

Consistently gay/lbian youths reported both a sexual orientatn and sexual behavrs that were more same-sex centered than peers who transed to a gay/lbian inty, and both of the groups of youths differed om peers who nsistently intified as bisexual. 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.

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. Specifilly, our fdg that female youths were more likely than male youths to intify nsistently as gay/lbian and ls likely to trans between inti do not provi rmatn on whether the relatn between sexual inty and another variable differs by genr (i.