RISK FOR PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AMONG LESBIANS AND GAY MEN

描述（申请人摘要）：在过去的20年里，研究 研究男女同性恋者的精神病理学已经从 将同性恋视为调查社会压力作用的因果关系 由于这一群体遭受歧视的共同经历， 受害与心理社会压力模型预测的一致， 更高的痛苦率，也许精神障碍将导致，证据表明， 表明男女同性恋者可能比其他人更有可能经历 抑郁症、功能失调的药物/酒精使用和自杀企图， 尽管调查结果喜忧参半。此外，研究表明， 男子可能有不同的精神保健需求和利用模式。这些 问题，虽然，在很大程度上是研究不足，不幸的是，大多数 工作受到了关键的方法限制，主要是近 完全依赖于基于重复性的抽样设计，而没有类似的抽样 异性恋控制。医学研究所最近的一份关于女同性恋健康的报告 为了响应NIH和CDC对研究指导的要求， 结论认为，基于人口的研究和发展 需要改进方法，以提供关于 发病风险和保护因素。根据移徙组织的建议， 和NIMH RFA PA-99-121，本申请提出利用 存在若干基于人口的数据集， 男女同性恋人群使用的精神卫生和相关服务。 具体而言，我们将在6项全国调查中确定可能被 女同性恋者或男同性恋者使用性行为和关系状态指标。 然后，我们将这些样本与类似的异性恋女性进行比较， 为了估计心理健康发病率、保健质量和 寿命指标和治疗利用率。调查结果将澄清 过度的精神病风险，以及可能促进弹性的因素， 女同性恋和男同性恋。这项研究的另一个目标是促进发展 在研究方法上有很大的进步。为此，我们将 使用基于人口的数据和以前收集的数据进行比较 基于性取向的调查（包括约1万名女同性恋者）， 确定可能的人口统计学和心理健康发病率差异 在两个抽样的来源人群中的妇女之间。调查结果将大大 协助在今后的研究中制定更有效的抽样框架。

DESCRIPTION (Applicant's abstract): Within the last 2 decades, research examining psychopathology among lesbians and gay men has moved away from viewing homosexuality as causal to investigating the role of social stress arising from this population's common experiences with discrimination and victimization. Consistent with a psychosocial stress model predicting that higher rates of distress and perhaps mental disorders will result, evidence suggests that lesbians and gay men may be more likely than others to experience depressive disorders, dysfunctional drug/alcohol use, and suicide attempts, though findings are mixed. In addition, research hints that lesbians and gay men may have different mental health care needs and utilization patterns. These issues, though, are largely understudied and, unfortunately, the majority of work has been hampered by critical methodological limitations, primarily a near total reliance on convenience-based sampling designs without similarly sampled heterosexual controls. A recent Institute of Medicine report on lesbian health issued in response to NIH and CDC requests for guidance on research with this population concluded that population-based studies and development of methodological improvements were needed to provide essential information about morbidity risk and protective factors. In response to the IOM recommendations and NIMH RFA PA-99-121, the current application proposes to capitalize on the existence of several population-based datasets that offer a means of examining mental health and related services use by lesbians and gay men as a population. Specifically, we will identify in 6 national surveys individuals likely to be lesbians or gay men using sexual behavior and relationship status indicators. We will then compare these samples to similarly identified heterosexual women and men in order to estimate prevalence of mental health morbidity, quality of life indicators, and treatment utilization. Findings will clarify the nature of excess psychiatric risk, as well as factors that may promote resiliency, among lesbians and gay men. A further goal of the study is to facilitate developments in research methodology with this population. To that end, we will conduct comparisons using data from population-based and previously collected convenience-based surveys (including approximately 1 0,000 lesbians) in order to identify possible demographic and mental health morbidity differences between women in the two source populations sampled. Findings will greatly assist developing more efficient sampling frames in future studies.