Sexual Minority Identity Development, Onset of Same-Sex Sexual Behavior, and HIV Risk Outcomes

Letter from the Editor
Staff Articles

• Epigenetic effects of Maternal Behavior… Sounds a lot like Attachment Theory
• Mean Kids, Mean Moms?
• Problematizing Perfectionism: A Closer Look at the Perfectionism Construct
• Food Allergy and Bullying: The Implications for Parents of Children with Food Allergies
• Child Maltreatment and Resilience in the Academic Environment

Submissions

• The Role of Consumer Satisfaction in Psychiatric Care
• The Many Treatment Methodologies for Phobias: Finding the Best Fit
• The Effect of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder on the Ability to Recognize Facial Expressions
• The Female/Athlete Paradox: Managing Traditional Views of Masculinity and Femininity
• Socio-emotional Interventions: The Efficacy of Socio-Emotional Interventions in Head Start Classrooms
• Comparing the type of trauma and the severity of PTSD symptoms in children and adolescents

Abstracts

• The Role of Community Connection for Immigrant Youth’s School Engagement
• Household Economic Shock and the Academic Experiences of College Women
• Sexual Minority Identity Development, Onset of Same-Sex Sexual Behavior, and HIV Risk Outcomes
• Parent-Child Interactions in Behavioral Treatment of Selective Mutism: A Case Study
• Children’s Fictional Narratives: Gender Differences in Storytelling
• Risk-Taking Behaviors in First Generation Immigrant Adolescents: The Role of Acculturative Stress and Social Support
• Promoting the Mathematics Achievement of Economically Disadvantaged Latino and African American Students: Understanding the Roles of Parental Involvement and Expectations
• Caregiver and Teacher Use of Evaluation and the Development of Latino Preschooler’s Socio-Emotional Skills

Staff and Writer Biographies

• Staff Bios
• Contributor Bios

For young men who have sex with men (“YMSM”) same-sex sexual behavior often precedes sexual minority self-identification. The period prior to self-identification is a vulnerable time to high risktaking behaviors such as substance abuse and sexual risk-taking associated with HIV infection, as evidenced by the fact that YMSM are the population at highest risk for HIV infection. Previous research has focused on either sex behavior or sexual identity in understanding the experiences and risks of these young men. The present study sought to examine how first same-sex sexual behaviors are related to identity trajectories and how these two variables might influence risktaking behaviors among YMSM. Participants were 598 men who completed baseline assessments pertaining to first same-sex sexual experiences, Gay/Bisexual/Transgender identity development, sex behavior, and drug use at age 18-19 (part of a longitudinal NIMH-funded study called P-18, PI: Halkitis). Results indicated that lower age of first same-sex behavior and non-identification as gay were related to high levels of drug use. For gay-identifying youth, same-sex sexual behavior prior to self-identification was related to higher risk-taking behaviors, suggesting that there is a distinct relation between behavior and identity to risk outcomes possibly leading to HIV infection for this population. Identifying as gay does seem to serve as a protective factor against risk outcomes leading to HIV infection, yet it is the timing of the identity achievement that might hold the protective value, not identification itself.