James P. Malcolm

There have been few investigations of sexual identity and psychological adjustment among behaviorally-bisexual married men. A critical issue is whether such men experience increased psychological adjustment if they exit their primary heterosexual relationship and assume a gay identity. Two hundred and one ever-married men (n = 201) with same-sex sexual interests and behaviors were administered the Brady and Busse ( 1994 Brady , S. & Busse , W. ( 1994 ). The gay identity questionnaire: A brief measure of homosexual identity formation . Journal of Homosexuality , 26 ( 4 ), 1 – 22 . [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar] ) gay identity development questionnaire (GIQ) and the symptom check list–90 (SCL-90) as part of a larger investigation of sexual identity development. The measurement of homosexual identity formation (HIF) using the original nominal scoring criteria for the GIQ did not adequately detail processes of HIF among respondents, and an alternative scoring system that allowed continuous, rather than stage, measurement of HIF was utilized. Psychological adjustment was found to be significantly correlated with HIF among ever-married gay-identified men. Within bisexual-identified men, no relationships between HIF and psychological adjustment were found. Future studies of HIF should clearly differentiate between gay and bisexual men. The findings suggest significant psychological gains accompany public affirmation of gay identity among self-identified gay men who have been in a previous heterosexual relationship.

The research investigated the effect of mindfulness meditation on the emotional states of depression, anxiety, and stress. Additionally, we explored whether people with varying severity of depression, anxiety, and stress responded differently to mindfulness training. In order to investigate these questions, participants (n = 50) completed the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale, 21-item version (DASS-21) before and after a 10-week mindfulness meditation program. As predicted, the severity levels of all affective measures have decreased by the end of the meditation course. Participants with severe emotional difficulties at the time of commencing the meditation course demonstrated the most notable improvement over time. These results suggest that mindfulness training is beneficial in reducing the symptoms of subclinical depression and anxiety and can substantially reduce stress. Attentional retraining and self-management aspects of mindfulness meditation, as well as relevant methodological issues are discussed.

The Gay Affect and Life Events Scale (GALES) was administered to a sample of gay-identified and non-gay-identified behaviourally bisexual married men (n = 186) and a comparative sample of never-married gay-identified men (n = 33). All participants in the study reported moderate levels of life stress in the preceding six months. No significant differences were found between the ever-married and never-married groups on the Overall Stress Value Score (OSV) of the GALES. Among the ever-married, those who identified as gay/homosexual reported significantly higher life stress than those who identified as bisexual. No differences were found within the ever-married between those who remained with their heterosexual partner and those who had separated. Difficulties in the use of the Nott and Vedhara (1995) version of the GALES with both gay men and populations of behaviourally bisexual men are reported.