Gender Nonconformity and Psychological Distress in Lesbians and Gay Men

Skidmore, W. Christopher; Linsenmeier, Joan A. W.; Bailey, J. Michael

doi:10.1007/s10508-006-9108-5

Cited by 180 publications

(158 citation statements)

References 95 publications

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“…Children not allowed these freedoms by agents within their developmental systems (e.g., family, peers, school) are at later risk for developing a downward cascade of psychosocial adversities including depressive symptoms, low life satisfaction, self-harm, isolation, homelessness, incarceration, posttraumatic stress, and suicide ideation and attempts [D'Augelli, Grossman, & Starks, 2006;Garofalo, Deleon, Osmer, Doll, & Harper, 2006;Roberts, Rosario, Corliss, Koenen, & Bryn Austin, 2012;Skidmore, Linsenmeier, & Bailey, 2006;Toomey, Ryan, Díaz, Card, & Russell, 2010;Travers et al, 2012]. While the developmental impact of our approach has yet to be rigorously studied, some evidence suggests that gender-nonconforming children are negatively impacted when given the message by therapists, doctors, or families that their gender expression must conform to traditional gender roles associated with their birth-assigned gender [Hill, Menvielle, Sica, & Johnson, 2010].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Gender Affirmative Model: What We Know and What We Aim to Learn

et al. 2013

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confidence: 99%

The Gender Affirmative Model: What We Know and What We Aim to Learn

et al. 2013

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“…Using participants who engaged in sex with other women or men or who abstained from sex allowed us to examine whether choice of sexual partner affected health patterns. Several theoretical approaches informed our research including: (1) Fessler 's theory (2003) which predicts that women display consummatory and mating behavior differentially across the menstrual cycle; (2) objectification theory (Kozee & Tylka, 2006) which predicts that lesbians are less concerned about their body images than heterosexuals and (3) stigmatization theory (Skidmore et al, 2007) which predicts that lesbians should be more stressed than heterosexuals. …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Objectification theory (Kozee & Tylka, 2006) posits that lesbians are less concerned about the cultural norms of appearance than heterosexuals and therefore not as concerned about their eating behavior while stigmatization theory (Skidmore et al, 2007) posits that lesbian's increased weight and substance abuse result from the stress of identifying with a stigmatized social group.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Menstrual Cycle and Sexual Behavior: Relationship to Eating, Exercise, Sleep, and Health Patterns

Brown¹,

Morrison²,

Calibuso³

et al. 2008

Women & Hlth.

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Patterns of eating, exercise, sleep and health were investigated across 180 menstrual cycles of 89 women who engaged in sex with a male (n = 45; cycles = 85), a female (n = 21; cycles = 37) or abstained from sex (n = 33; cycles = 58) from January 2005 to December 2007 (10 contributed to 2 groups). Cycles were divided into 5 phases based on their luteinizing hormone surges. Daily questionnaires and saliva for IgA and cortisol analyses were obtained. Women indicated that they ate more (p < .008) and did not sleep as well (p = .02) during their luteal and premenstrual phases. Participants were less likely to experience food cravings and did not satisfy their cravings when they were ovulatory (p < .001). Additionally, a greater proportion of lesbians skipped breakfast (p = .01) and exercised less than heterosexuals (p = .05). Sexually active women had lower cortisol and IgA levels than abstinent women (p = .02). Our study discovered, and confirmed, systematic differences in eating, sleeping and health patterns across women's menstrual cycles. Keywordslesbian; IgA; cortisol; alcohol; food cravings and abstinence Substantial research has been conducted on changes in women's sexuality across their menstrual cycles (Bullivant et al., 2004), but considerably fewer studies have been conducted on how other behaviors such as eating, exercise, sleep and health vary across the cycle. Additionally, little is known about how women who engage in sex with other women across a menstrual cycle might differ in their health patterns from women who abstain from or engage in sex with men.Fessler (2003) theorized that women ate less and exercised more at ovulation because their behavior was directed towards mating at this time. In contrast, he argued that women increased their feeding behavior during their luteal phases when implantation was likely. His review of the literature supported his theory. Independent research also found that women ate more (Bryant et al., 2006) and reported more food cravings, especially for chocolate (Michener et al., 1999) and carbohydrates (Cohen et al., 1987) during the luteal phase of their cycles, although the chocolate craving may have a cultural origin (Zellner et al., 2004). Sternfeld et al. (2002) found that moderate levels of physical activity were positively correlated with cycle length. However, most research on exercise and the menstrual cycle has been conducted on women athletes (Goodman & Warren, 2005) and is therefore difficult to generalize to other women. As far as we know, comparable research into eating and exercise has not been conducted on lesbians across their menstrual cycles. Some studies of lesbian health behavior have reported that lesbians have a higher body mass index (BMI) (Case et al., 2004) and higher frequencies of obesity (Boehmer et al., 2007) and substance abuse (Ridner et al., 2006) than heterosexuals. Other studies have found the opposite (Heffernan, 1998) or mixed results (Heffernan, 1996).Objectification and stigmatization theories have been used to explain th...

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“…In the attempt to explain the negative mental health consequences arising from gay-related stress in US society, researchers are increasingly finding that boyhood gender nonconformity, especially others' negative reactions to these behaviors, stand out as good predictors of later mental health difficulties in the lives of gay men (D'Augelli, Grossman, & Starks, 2006;Fitzpatrick, Euton, Jones, & Schmidt, 2005;Josephson & Whiffen, 2007;Landolt, Bartholomew, Saffrey, Oram, & Perlman, 2004;Skidmore, Linsenmeier, & Bailey, 2006). While Glassgold does not directly discuss Felix's childhood gender-related behavior, she does suggest that his current mental health is influenced by socialization into a culture with strong expectations of gender role conformity as well as by his ongoing engagement in traditionally masculine work and hobbies.…”

Section: Potential Hazards Of Masculine Ideology On Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Parental and peer rejection of childhood gender nonconforming behavior is associated with overall cognitive and interpersonal problems into adulthood (Josephson & Whiffen, 2007;Landolt, Bartholomew, Saffrey, Oram, & Perlman, 2004;Skidmore, Linsenmeier, & Bailey, 2006). Further, D'Augelli and colleagues have shown that gender atypical youth report more victimization and therefore more post traumatic stress symptoms than less gender atypical youth (D'Augelli, Grossman, & Starks, 2006).…”

Section: Potential Hazards Of Masculine Ideology On Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Use of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy to Promote Authenticity

Pachankis¹

2009

PCSP

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Glassgold's (2009) case study offers an excellent example of combining LGB-specific empirical findings with established treatments that have been shown to work for the general treatment-seeking population. In doing so, she helps her client, Felix, take a stand about who he is as a gay man and thus move towards a more authentic self. I focus this commentary on 1) the potential hazards of masculine ideology on gay male development, 2) the use of cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) to promote our gay clients' authenticity in the face of challenges to healthy sexual orientation development, and 3) the need for empirical tests of the integration of LGB-specific research findings into established treatment approaches. Although the field still awaits controlled trials of affirmative approaches to LGB-specific clinical issues, this should not stop clinicians from drawing on the relevant empirical work to facilitate successful treatments of our LGB clients' presenting issues. Glassgold's approach serves as an excellent example of the integration of this research into a cognitive-behavioral conceptualization of anxiety and panic.

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Gender Nonconformity and Psychological Distress in Lesbians and Gay Men

Cited by 180 publications

References 95 publications

The Gender Affirmative Model: What We Know and What We Aim to Learn

The Gender Affirmative Model: What We Know and What We Aim to Learn

The Menstrual Cycle and Sexual Behavior: Relationship to Eating, Exercise, Sleep, and Health Patterns

The Use of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy to Promote Authenticity

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