505767 research-article2013
JAP19510.1177/1078390313505767Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurse Association 19(5)Corte et al.
Guest Editorial
Advancing Health Equity in Disparity Populations: A Focused Issue on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People
Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association 19(5) 239–240 © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1078390313505767 jap.sagepub.com
Colleen Corte1, Alicia K. Matthews2, Rhonda Brown3, and Tonda L. Hughes4
We are delighted to serve as guest editors of this special issue of JAPNA focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) health. First of all, we would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Karen Stein, editor of JAPNA, for enabling us to publish a special issue of JAPNA on this important topic. It is a clear indication that the emotional and behavioral health of members of the LGBT communities is recognized as essential to psychiatric mental health nursing. We are delighted to report that we received so many high-quality articles in response to this call for manuscripts on LGBT health, that they could not all be included in this special issue. Therefore, we are pleased to announce that there will be an additional two to three LGBT-focused articles in the next regular issue of JAPNA. Our goal with this issue was to advance knowledge of the social and environmental determinants of emotional and behavioral health disparities among LGBT populations, methodologies that advance measurement and data collection, factors associated with resilience, and policy approaches to improving LGBT health and well-being. The five research articles included in this special issue focus on a range of topics that address these issues. The study samples include various racially and ethnically diverse sexual minority subpopulations (lesbians, bisexual women, transgender men) across different developmental stages (adolescents to middle/older adults). Three of the articles focus on the identification of social, cultural, and environmental determinants of poor mental health and engagement in health risk behaviors. Parks and Heller examined the influence of early drinking contexts while coming out on current drinking patterns in a racially, ethnically, and age-diverse sample of adult lesbian and bisexual women. This article highlights the importance of the social contextual milieu in which lesbian and bisexual women begin drinking that should be considered when developing outreach and support services. In the tradition of JAPNA, we also included a clinical translation of this article (McNair and Brown) to facilitate the dissemination of research findings to psychiatric mental health practitioners. Matthews and her
colleagues focused on the prospective influence of sexual identity, hazardous drinking, and sexual enhancement expectancies on sexual risk behavior in a racially diverse sample of lesbian and bisexual women from the Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women study. This article highlights the need for sexual risk reduction efforts to focus on patterns of alcohol use and beliefs about the effects of alcohol on sexuality/intimacy. Marshall and colleagues focused on substance use and mental health disparities between sexual minority adolescent girls and heterosexual adolescent girls from the Pittsburgh Girls Study. Their large and racially diverse sample enabled them to pay particular attention to the intersectionality of race and sexual orientation. Moving on from risk behavior, Boehmer focused on differences between lesbian and bisexual women in psychosocial adjustment after a diagnosis of breast cancer. The article highlights sexual minority-specific issues that contribute to adjustment after a major health crisis, which is important for health professionals and for lesbian and bisexual women diagnosed with breast cancer. Finally, Reisner and his colleagues examined the health and perceived health needs of adult transgender men. This study represents a particularly unique contribution to the literature given that much sexual minority research either excludes transgender persons altogether or combines transgender men and women as though they are one homogeneous group. Collectively, these articles advance the knowledge of social and environmental determinants of emotional and 1
Colleen Corte, PhD, RN, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Nursing, Chicago, IL, USA 2 Alicia Matthews, PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Nursing, Chicago, IL, USA 3 Rhonda Brown, PhD, RN, Deakin University, College of Nursing, Melbourne, Australia 4 Tonda Hughes, PhD, RN, FAAN, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Nursing, Chicago, IL, USA Corresponding Author: Colleen Corte, College of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 S. Damen, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. Email: [email protected]
Downloaded from jap.sagepub.com at IOWA TESTING PROGRAMS on June 19, 2015
240
Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association 19(5)
behavioral health disparities among sexual minority populations and within sexual minority subpopulations. They will undoubtedly inform the design, implementation, and evaluation of policies, services, and interventions that
improve LGBT mental health outcomes. We are delighted to present this special issue of JAPNA. Be on the lookout for the next regular issue of JAPNA, which will include more articles focused on LGBT health.
Downloaded from jap.sagepub.com at IOWA TESTING PROGRAMS on June 19, 2015
JAP19510.1177/1078390313505767Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurse Association 19(5)Corte et al.
Guest Editorial
Advancing Health Equity in Disparity Populations: A Focused Issue on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People
Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association 19(5) 239–240 © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1078390313505767 jap.sagepub.com
Colleen Corte1, Alicia K. Matthews2, Rhonda Brown3, and Tonda L. Hughes4
We are delighted to serve as guest editors of this special issue of JAPNA focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) health. First of all, we would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Karen Stein, editor of JAPNA, for enabling us to publish a special issue of JAPNA on this important topic. It is a clear indication that the emotional and behavioral health of members of the LGBT communities is recognized as essential to psychiatric mental health nursing. We are delighted to report that we received so many high-quality articles in response to this call for manuscripts on LGBT health, that they could not all be included in this special issue. Therefore, we are pleased to announce that there will be an additional two to three LGBT-focused articles in the next regular issue of JAPNA. Our goal with this issue was to advance knowledge of the social and environmental determinants of emotional and behavioral health disparities among LGBT populations, methodologies that advance measurement and data collection, factors associated with resilience, and policy approaches to improving LGBT health and well-being. The five research articles included in this special issue focus on a range of topics that address these issues. The study samples include various racially and ethnically diverse sexual minority subpopulations (lesbians, bisexual women, transgender men) across different developmental stages (adolescents to middle/older adults). Three of the articles focus on the identification of social, cultural, and environmental determinants of poor mental health and engagement in health risk behaviors. Parks and Heller examined the influence of early drinking contexts while coming out on current drinking patterns in a racially, ethnically, and age-diverse sample of adult lesbian and bisexual women. This article highlights the importance of the social contextual milieu in which lesbian and bisexual women begin drinking that should be considered when developing outreach and support services. In the tradition of JAPNA, we also included a clinical translation of this article (McNair and Brown) to facilitate the dissemination of research findings to psychiatric mental health practitioners. Matthews and her
colleagues focused on the prospective influence of sexual identity, hazardous drinking, and sexual enhancement expectancies on sexual risk behavior in a racially diverse sample of lesbian and bisexual women from the Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women study. This article highlights the need for sexual risk reduction efforts to focus on patterns of alcohol use and beliefs about the effects of alcohol on sexuality/intimacy. Marshall and colleagues focused on substance use and mental health disparities between sexual minority adolescent girls and heterosexual adolescent girls from the Pittsburgh Girls Study. Their large and racially diverse sample enabled them to pay particular attention to the intersectionality of race and sexual orientation. Moving on from risk behavior, Boehmer focused on differences between lesbian and bisexual women in psychosocial adjustment after a diagnosis of breast cancer. The article highlights sexual minority-specific issues that contribute to adjustment after a major health crisis, which is important for health professionals and for lesbian and bisexual women diagnosed with breast cancer. Finally, Reisner and his colleagues examined the health and perceived health needs of adult transgender men. This study represents a particularly unique contribution to the literature given that much sexual minority research either excludes transgender persons altogether or combines transgender men and women as though they are one homogeneous group. Collectively, these articles advance the knowledge of social and environmental determinants of emotional and 1
Colleen Corte, PhD, RN, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Nursing, Chicago, IL, USA 2 Alicia Matthews, PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Nursing, Chicago, IL, USA 3 Rhonda Brown, PhD, RN, Deakin University, College of Nursing, Melbourne, Australia 4 Tonda Hughes, PhD, RN, FAAN, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Nursing, Chicago, IL, USA Corresponding Author: Colleen Corte, College of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago, 845 S. Damen, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. Email: [email protected]
Downloaded from jap.sagepub.com at IOWA TESTING PROGRAMS on June 19, 2015
240
Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association 19(5)
behavioral health disparities among sexual minority populations and within sexual minority subpopulations. They will undoubtedly inform the design, implementation, and evaluation of policies, services, and interventions that
improve LGBT mental health outcomes. We are delighted to present this special issue of JAPNA. Be on the lookout for the next regular issue of JAPNA, which will include more articles focused on LGBT health.
Downloaded from jap.sagepub.com at IOWA TESTING PROGRAMS on June 19, 2015
