For lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer (i.e., sexual minority [SM]) youth, coming out is an important developmental milestone and is typically associated with positive well-being. However, coming out in high school may entail a higher risk of school-based victimization. Due to the greater risk of homophobic bullying, the implications of being out in…

Sexual health communication in adolescence is important for sexual well-being. With limited empirical work utilizing longitudinal methodologies, this study aimed to investigate how the frequency of sexual communication with parents, peers, and dating partners changes across adolescence and varies based on sex, race/ethnicity, and sexual…

This study quantified changes in self-reported sexual orientation from adolescence to early adulthood, and whether childhood gender nonconformity (GNC) predicted sexual orientation changes. Youth (2,678 boys and 3,359 girls; 96.09% ethnically White) from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were included. Self-reported…

Attention to youth advocacy and sociopolitical efficacy has been evident in developmental research on critical consciousness, yet this literature has given little attention to sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth or issues, or to the interplay between these dimensions of critical consciousness over time. We addressed these limitations within the…

The goal of this article was to examine gender-typed behavior longitudinally and to consider its relationship with sexual orientation in adulthood. Data were from 10,624 respondents who completed Wave 1 (adolescence), Wave 3 (emerging adulthood), and Wave 4 (early adulthood) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. First,…

Childhood gender nonconformity (femininity in males, masculinity in females) predicts a nonstraight (gay, lesbian, or bisexual) sexual orientation in adulthood. In previous work, nonstraight twins reported more childhood gender nonconformity than their genetically identical, but straight, cotwins. However, self-reports could be biased. We…

This longitudinal study examined coparenting and child adjustment during early and middle childhood (Ms = 3 and 8 years, respectively) among 106 lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parent adoptive families. When children were in middle childhood, no differences emerged as a function of parental sexual orientation in observations or self-reports of…

Urban middle school students (N = 1,057; M[subscript age] = 12.06) viewed Facebook-like profiles of peers who varied by race/ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation and indicated the social class (SC) of those peers along two dimensions--family income and social class position. As hypothesized, most profiles were perceived as middle class and…

Lesbian and gay individuals have been reported to show more interest in other-sex, and/or less interest in same-sex, toys, playmates, and activities in childhood than heterosexual counterparts. Yet, most of the relevant evidence comes from retrospective studies or from prospective studies of clinically referred, extremely gender nonconforming…

This study tested the association between multiple prenatal and postnatal early life factors and adolescent sexual orientation in a longitudinal birth cohort. Factors included birth weight, gestational age, parental age at birth, number of older brothers and sisters, breastfeeding, maternal anxiety/depression, family socioeconomic position,…

Controversy continues to surround parenting by lesbian and gay (LG) adults and outcomes for their children. As sexual minority parents increasingly adopt children, longitudinal research about child development, parenting, and family relationships is crucial for informing such debates. In the psychological literature, family systems theory contends…

This study investigates body image concerns and disordered weight- and shape-related behaviors across adolescence and young adulthood in males and how patterns vary by sexual orientation. Participants were 5,388 males from the U.S. national Growing Up Today Study. In 2001, 2003, and 2005 (spanning ages 15-20 years), participants reported sexual…

The experience of minority stress is often named as a cause for mental health disparities among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth, including higher levels of depression and suicidal ideation. The processes or mechanisms through which these disparities occur are understudied. The interpersonal-psychological theory of suicide posits 2 key…

Although recent attention has focused on the likelihood that contemporary sexual minority youth (i.e., gay, lesbian, bisexual [GLB]) are "coming out" at younger ages, few studies have examined whether early sexual orientation identity development is also present in older GLB cohorts. We analyzed retrospective data on the timing of sexual…

In this issue, P. Hegarty comments on an article by G. Rieger, J. A. W. Linsenmeier, L. Gygax, and J. M. Bailey (2008) that compared videos of homosexual and heterosexual people from childhood and adulthood. The current authors claim it is reasonable to treat masculinity-femininity as a bipolar scale and present justification for the approach used…