Cohen Jeffrey M, Blasey Christine, Barr Taylor C, Weiss Brandon J, Newman Michelle G
PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium.
PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium.
Behav Ther. 2016 Jan;47(1):91-101. doi: 10.1016/j.beth.2015.09.006. Epub 2015 Oct 22.
Sexual minorities face greater exposure to discrimination and rejection than heterosexuals. Given these threats, sexual minorities may engage in sexual orientation concealment in order to avoid danger. This social stigma and minority stress places sexual minorities at risk for anxiety and related disorders. Given that three fourths of anxiety disorder onset occurs before the age of 24, the current study investigated the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and depression in sexual minority young adults relative to their heterosexual peers. Secondarily, the study investigated sexual orientation concealment as a predictor of anxiety and related disorders. A sample of 157 sexual minority and 157 heterosexual young adults matched on age and gender completed self-report measures of the aforementioned disorders, and indicated their level of sexual orientation concealment. Results revealed that sexual minority young adults reported greater symptoms relative to heterosexuals across all outcome measures. There were no interactions between sexual minority status and gender, however, women had higher symptoms across all disorders. Sexual minority young women appeared to be at the most risk for clinical levels of anxiety and related disorders. In addition, concealment of sexual orientation significantly predicted symptoms of social phobia. Implications are offered for the cognitive and behavioral treatment of anxiety and related disorders in this population.
性少数群体比异性恋者面临更多的歧视和排斥。鉴于这些威胁，性少数群体可能会隐瞒性取向以避免危险。这种社会耻辱感和少数群体压力使性少数群体面临焦虑及相关障碍的风险。鉴于四分之三的焦虑症发病发生在24岁之前，本研究调查了性少数年轻成年人相对于异性恋同龄人在广泛性焦虑症、社交恐惧症、惊恐障碍、创伤后应激障碍和抑郁症方面的症状。其次，该研究调查了性取向隐瞒作为焦虑及相关障碍预测因素的情况。157名性少数和157名年龄和性别匹配的异性恋年轻成年人组成的样本完成了上述障碍的自我报告测量，并表明了他们性取向隐瞒的程度。结果显示，在所有结果测量中，性少数年轻成年人报告的症状比异性恋者更严重。性少数身份与性别之间没有交互作用，然而，在所有障碍中女性的症状更严重。性少数年轻女性似乎患临床水平焦虑及相关障碍的风险最高。此外，性取向隐瞒显著预测了社交恐惧症的症状。本文为该人群焦虑及相关障碍的认知和行为治疗提供了启示。
