Psychological well-being and the minority sexual identity formation process

Thesis (M.A.)--Humboldt State University, Psychology, Counseling, 2014Research has been consistent in reporting higher than average rates of psychological distress and suicide for individuals who identify as Lesbian, Gay, or Bisexual (LGB). Researchers have explored the many possible causes for these higher rates and have identified that the high levels of stigmatization about sexual minorities within our society have negative effects on the LGB community. The sexual stigma placed upon this population leads to higher rates of victimization, discrimination, and internalized heterosexism, which causes minority stress. It is thought that high levels of minority stress may be causing this population to express higher levels of anxiety , depression, and suicides than the general population. \ud The period when one is forming, understanding, and eventually accepting their sexual minority identity, can be a period of much stress and turmoil. Deciding when, how, and to whom individuals wish to disclose their sexual identity can be a complicated process involving costs and benefits. Research suggests that higher levels of social support can lead to more positive levels of psychological health for this population. Keeping these concerns in mind, McCarn and Fassinger (1996) originally constructed a two dimensional model that outlines the phases of the minority sexual identity developmental process as it occurs for women who are lesbian. Fassinger and Miller (1996) extended the model to capture this process as it occurs for gay men also. Other models have been designed to explain these processes but the McCarn and Fassinger, and Fassinger and Miller models differ in that they view this process as occurring in two separate but interacting dimensions. The first of these is the self-acknowledgment and acceptance of a sexual minority identity. The second dimension involves the way individuals are open and feel about their sexual identity in relation to society. Two measures have been developed based on this model to help clinicians rate these processes as they occur for individuals, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Identity Scale (LGBIS), and the Outness Inventory (OI). Correlational analyses were run to see how individuals??? levels of depression and anxiety related to individual processes of developing a minority sexual identity. The relationships between these processes and individuals??? levels of social support and outness were also investigated. Out of the four hypothesis that were proposed only one was partially supported. Hypothesis three stated that social support would negatively correlate with depression and anxiety. It was found that individuals??? depression and anxiety levels were lower when their satisfaction with social support was higher. This study sought to obtain 100 or more completed surveys, as power analysis suggested. Out of 122 participants who began the survey only 50 completed it, and only 41 surveys could be used for final analysis. The low number, along with issues involving sampling LGB populations and restriction of range are the possible reasons for the \ud nonsignificant findings in this study