Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Assessing Sexual Minority Women’S Barriers And Facilitators To Seeking And Accessing Mental And Physical Healthcare: A Mixed Methods Study, Charlotte A. Dawson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Sexual minority women (SMW) experience greater mental and physical health concerns when compared to heterosexual women. Three key areas of health SMW report these disparities are: mental health, binge eating/body size, and sexual and reproductive health. SMW also report difficulties accessing healthcare in these three areas. An exploratory sequential mixed methods design was utilized to assess barriers and facilitators to healthcare access for young SMW. Study 1 included 20 semi-structured interviews with SMW, resulting in themes of barriers and facilitators identified by participants. These themes were converted into scale items. In Study 2, an expert panel of mental and physical …

The Influence Of Minority Stress, Coping, And A Pandemic On The Relationship Between Sexual Orientation And Mental Health: A Mixed Methods Study, James Michael Macchia

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

For decades, scientific literature has shown that sexual minority individuals across populations are disproportionately affected by negative mental health outcomes when compared to their heterosexual counterparts. These disparities are largely attributable to minority stress. Coping is a significant factor that can impact the content and severity of mental health outcomes and coping behaviors have been shown to vary based on sexual orientation. Mental health outcomes may also differ between sexual minority subgroups due to additional factors such as double discrimination and bisexual invisibility/erasure. Moreover, factors such as internalized homophobia and community connectedness have demonstrated strong associations with sexual minority mental …

The Effect Of Minority Stress On Sexual Minority College Students' Mental Health: The Role Of General Social Support And Sexuality-Specific Social Support, Lee A. Golembiewski

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Sexual minority (SM) college students continue to face greater mental health problems relative to their heterosexual peers (Woodford et al., 2014; Wilson & Liss, 2022). According to minority stress theory, SM individuals face distal (e.g., heterosexist discrimination) and proximal (e.g., expectations of rejection, internalized homophobia, and concealment) stressors related to their SM identity which can have negative effects on their mental health (Douglass & Conlin, 2020; Meyer, 2003). However, social support has been hypothesized to help protect against the effects of minority stress experienced by SM individuals (Cohen & Wills, 1985; Moody & Smith, 2013). Most of the existing research …

The Influence Of Internalized Heterosexism On Life Satisfaction: Comparing Sexual Minority Women In Belgium And Turkey, Esra Ummak, Ezgi Toplu-Demirtaş, Amber L. Pope, Jeffry Moe

Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications

To date, the majority of research studying lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) health has been conducted in Westernized, predominantly individualistic countries. Building on minority stress theory and models of LGBTQ health, we explored how sexual orientation and nationality moderated the association between internalized heterosexism and life satisfaction for lesbian and bisexual (LB) women living in two countries (Turkey and Belgium) with contrasting social contexts. The results of two-way MANOVA, in a sample of 339 Turkish and 220 Belgian LB women, revealed main effects but no interaction effects. LB women in Belgium reported less internalized heterosexism and more life …

Associations Between Body Dissatisfaction And Relationship Functioning Among Same-Sex Female Couples: An Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, Cassidy M. Sandoval, Kelly A. Romano, Kristin E. Heron, Charlotte A. Dawson, Tiphanie G. Sutton, Barbara A. Winstead, Robin J. Lewis

Psychology Faculty Publications

Nearly all past research about body dissatisfaction and romantic relationship factors is among heterosexual couples; little is known about these associations in sexual minority couples. The present study aimed to fill gaps in the current literature by using actor-partner interdependence models (APIMs) to examine dyadic patterns of association between body dissatisfaction and different aspects of relationship functioning among same-sex female couples. Participants were 163 same-sex female romantic dyads (326 women) between the ages of 18-35 years who completed measures of body dissatisfaction and relationship factors. Results from significance testing of actor and partner effects indicated higher levels of women's own …

Body Dissatisfaction And Disordered Eating Among College Women’S Social Networks: An Investigation Of Perceived Changes Following A Dissonance-Based Body Image Intervention, Rachel I. Macintyre

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Body dissatisfaction is associated with numerous health consequences and is pervasive among college women. Effective interventions exist that reduce body dissatisfaction in college women by helping them resist sociocultural pressures to conform to the appearance ideal, such as the Body Project. Yet research is limited on whether social and behavioral processes help participants reduce their engagement in sociocultural appearance-ideal messages and contribute to the intervention’s effectiveness. The primary purpose of the present study was to examine these social and behavioral processes, including the changes in college women’s social networks associated with their participation in the Body Project. Undergraduate and graduate …

Minority Stress And Alcohol Use In Sexual Minority Women's Daily Lives, Robin J. Lewis, Kelly A. Romano, Sarah J. Ehlke, Cathy Lau-Barraco, Cassidy M. Sandoval, Douglas J. Glenn, Kristin E. Heron

Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Model Of Individual, Relationship, And Societal Factors And Mental Health And Well-Being In Partnered Sexual Minority Women: The Central Role Of Relationship Satisfaction, Charlotte A. Dawson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Sexual minority women (SMW) are at increased risk for mental health disorders, substance abuse, and physical health problems compared to heterosexual women. For heterosexual individuals, romantic relationships have been found to be protective against a variety of health issues. Less research, however, has focused on the association between romantic relationships and health in same-sex couples. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential protective nature of being in a relationship for SMW and to test a model investigating the central role of relationship satisfaction in the association between individual, relationship, and societal factors and mental health and well-being …

Intersectional Identities And Microaggressions: The Experience Of Transgender Females, Cory Daniel Gerwe

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Historically, attention given to privileged LGBT minorities such as white LGBT individuals, renders those who experience multiple minority identities as unacknowledged. There is a scarcity of research exploring the intersectional experiences of transgender individuals and how these experiences impact their mental health and well-being. For that reason, the intent of this study was to learn more about transgender females who hold additional minority statuses, their transition experiences, their circumstances, and the nature of their social environment. Specifically, I investigated trans female experiences of transitioning with a specific focus on the intersection of gender identity, race, socioeconomic status (SES), and age. …

Sexual Violence Victimization, Mental Health, And University-Based Health Service Use Among College Females, Julie E. Stoner

Health Services Research Dissertations

Females between the ages of 18 and 24 consistently experience higher rates of sexual violence compared to females in any other age group (Sinozich & Langton, 2014). Approximately one in five college women experience sexual violence victimization (SVV; Krebs, Lindquist, Berzofsky, Shook-Sa & Peterson, 2016) during the academic year. Among undergraduate female students, 23.1% are victims of sexual violence due to physical force, violence or incapacitation (Cantor et al., 2015). Sexual victimization has been associated with several short- and long-term psychological health consequences, accounting for enhanced symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and suicide risk (Basile, Smith, Breiding, Black & Mahendra, …

Sexual Coercion, Drinking To Cope Motives, And Alcohol-Related Consequences Among Self-Identified Bisexual Women, Michelle L. Kelly, Sarah J. Ehlke, Robin J. Lewis, Abby L. Braitman, Wendy Bostwick, Kristin E. Heron, Cathy Lau-Barraco

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Given higher sexual victimization and greater alcohol use among bisexual women, a critical public health challenge is to understand within-group variation that may heighten or explain these associations in bisexual women. Objectives: The present study tested a moderated-mediation model in which sexual coercion was hypothesized to be associated with alcohol-related consequences via drinking to cope motives in self-identified bisexual women who reported at least occasional binge drinking. Negative affect was hypothesized to moderate the sexual coercion-drinking to cope motives association. Methods: Participants were a community sample of 107 self-identified bisexual women (age M = 20.97, SD = 2.11) who …

Views Of Feminist Family Therapy: A Q-Methodological Inquiry, Bronwen Cheek

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The feminist critique of family therapy has had a growing impact on theory and practice for almost two decades (Hare-Mustin, 1978; Bograd, 1990). Writings on feminist family therapy (FFT) reveal both common and diverse opinions about what FFT is. The present study examined how views of FFT are segmented using Q-methodology (Stephenson, 1953; Brown, 1980; McKeown & Thomas, 1988), a small-sample empirical technique for identifying emergent viewpoints and studying their similarities and differences. A Q-sort instrument of 60 statements was constructed to sample diverse discourse on FFT. Magraw's (1992) interviews with leading experts in FFT served as a primary source …

Postmortem Diagnoses Of Virginia Woolf's 'Madness': The Precarious Quest For Truth, Nancy Topping Bazin

English Faculty Publications

The reputation of British writer Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) is now well established. Her brilliance as a writer is seldom contested, and her place in the literary canon is assured. Whether interested in literary traditions, textual studies, applied feminism, or postmodern theory, most scholars and critics admire what she had to say and how she said it. The variety, volume, and quality of her writings are impressive; her skill as a writer is seen not only in her eight novels but also in her essays, diaries, letters, short stories, biographies and nonfictional works A Room of One's Own and Three Guineas …

The Relationship Between Needs And Interpersonal Problems Of Women In Four Interpersonal Categories, Valarie Elaine Sikes-Nova

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study empirically assessed the relationship between needs structure and interpersonal presentation in women. Proposed indices for selective attention were assessed as to their ability to detect pathology. The relationship between interpersonal presentation and interpersonal problems were also studied. The measures used were The Picture Identification Test (Chambers, 1976), The Interpersonal Adjective Scales-Revised (Wiggins, 1985), The Inventory for Interpersonal Problems (Horowitz, 1986), and The Marlowe-Crowne Social-Desirability Scale (1964).

Subjects were assigned to one of four interpersonal categories (Friendly-Dominant, Friendly-Submissive, Hostile-Dominant, Hostile-Submissive) on the basis of their self-reported IAS-R and one category on the basis of their counselor-reported IAS-R scores. Subjects …

The Spherical Vision, Nancy Topping Bazin

English Faculty Publications

Virginia Woolf's experiences as a manic-depressive influenced her vision of reality and, in tum, her aesthetics. Manic-depression is a "cyclic" illness-cyclic in the sense that the manic-depressive moves alternately between two extreme psychological states. Hence, he experiences reality in terms of two opposite perspectives. Psychotic depression involves what Jung describes as the experience of the "shadow." That is, looking into the unconscious, the individual sees his own reflection. He takes a risk in looking, for as Jung says, "The mirror does not flatter, it faithfully shows whatever looks into it; namely, the face we never show to the world because …