http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m ... ntent;col1Psychiatric symptoms and same-sex sexual attraction and behavior in light of childhood gender atypical behavior and parental relationships
Journal of Sex Research, Sept-Oct, 2009 by Katarina Alanko, Pekka Santtila, Katarina Witting, Markus Varjonen, Patrik Jern, Ada Johansson, Bettina von der Pahlen, N. Kenneth Sandnabba
12345678910…15Next
Gay men, lesbians, and persons behaving in a gender atypical manner report more negative parental relationships than heterosexual men and women (D'Augelli, Grossman, & Starks, 2008; Landolt, Bartholomew, Saffrey, Oram, & Perlman, 2004; Milic & Crowne, 1986; Siegelman, 1974). Gender atypical behavior (GAB) refers to behavior traditionally considered more typical for children of the opposite gender. In population-based studies, gay men and lesbians have also been found to display elevated rates of psychiatric symptoms (for a review, see Cochran, 2001; Meyer, 2003) compared to heterosexual men and women. In this study, we used a matched-groups design to examine how childhood gender atypicality and same-sex sexual attraction or behavior, when considered independently of each other, were related to recalled quality of relationships with parents and to the level of current symptoms of depression and anxiety for both men and women. This resulted in four groups: gender typical individuals with no same-sex sexual attraction or behavior (i.e., heterosexual men and women without childhood GAB), gender atypical individuals with no same-sex sexual attraction or behavior present (heterosexual men and women with childhood GAB), gender typical individuals with same-sex sexual attraction or behavior (gay men and lesbians without childhood GAB), and gender atypical individuals with same-sex sexual attraction or behavior present (gay men and lesbians with childhood GAB). In light of existing findings, we hypothesized that (a) childhood GAB would predict the recollections of parent-child relationships. Both gay men and heterosexual men with a history of GAB would report negative relationships with their fathers compared to men who do not report GAB. (b) Gay men and lesbians would report more negative parent-child relationships than heterosexual men and women. Lesbians would tend to report of more distant relationships with their fathers than heterosexual women. (c) Childhood GAB, more than same-sex sexual attraction or behavior (i.e., sexual orientation) would predict the level of current symptoms of depression and anxiety. This effect would be stronger for men than for women.
(- -)