Open AccessImplications of childhood experiences for the health and adaptation of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals: Sensitivity to developmental process in future research.
Author(s) -
Margaret Rosario
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
psychology of sexual orientation and gender diversity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2329-0390
pISSN - 2329-0382
DOI - 10.1037/sgd0000120
Subject(s) - sexual orientation , lesbian , psychology , sexual minority , developmental psychology , homosexuality , sexual identity , minority stress , heterosexuality , adaptation (eye) , clinical psychology , social psychology , human sexuality , gender studies , sociology , neuroscience , psychoanalysis
The empirical literature on lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals has predominantly focused on sexual-orientation disparities between LGB and heterosexual individuals on health and adaptation, as well as on the role of gay-related or minority stress in the health and adaptation of LGB individuals. Aside from demographic control variables, the initial predictor is a marker of sexual orientation or LGB-related experience (e.g., minority stress). Missing are potential strengths and vulnerabilities that LGB individuals develop over time and bring to bear on their sexual identity development and other LGB-related experiences. Those strengths and vulnerabilities may have profound consequences for the sexual identity development, health, and adaptation of LGB individuals. Here, I focus on one such set of strengths and vulnerabilities derived from attachment. I conclude by emphasizing the importance of attachment in the lives of LGB individuals and the need to identify other developmental processes that may be equally consequential.