Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered individuals are sexual and gender minorities subject to stigma in a heteronormative culture with binary gender role norms. Although much research has examined sexual stigma in the form of homophobia, or negative attitudes and reactions to homosexuals and homosexuality, little is known about the stigma experienced by transgendered individuals. Transgendered people are those whose gender identity (sense of oneself as a man or a woman) or gender expression (expression of oneself as a man or a woman in behavior, manner, and/or dress) differ from conventional expectations for their physical sex. Although a scale exists to measure transphobia or negative attitudes and reactions to transgendered individuals, it includes items tapping into overt behavioral expression of this stigma, or gender-bashing, and fails to identify or define transgendered persons as the attitudinal target of the items. A new scale was developed and evaluated in an effort to assess transgender-related stigma, separately from discrimination and violence, among members of the general population. Using two separate samples of college students ranging in age from 18-64 years, exploratory (N = 134) and confirmatory factor analyses (N = 237) were performed. The resulting 20-item, self-report measure demonstrated a single-factor structure, high internal consistency reliability, and evidence of convergent and discriminant construct validity.

Mental and physical health disparities have been noted for sexual minorities. Minority stress models posit that discrimination plays an important role in these disparities. Evidence supporting the role of proximal and distal minority stressors in LGB mental health has accumulated, but examinations of the role of minority stress processes in LGB physical health remains limited. The role of proximal minority stressors of internalized homophobia and concealment in the relationship between the distal minority stressor of lifetime experiences with discrimination and mental and physical health status was examined among a nonprobability sample of 474 LGB adults. Lifetime reports of perceived discrimination were positively associated with both mental and physical health status. Structural equation modeling revealed a direct path between discrimination and physical health but the relationship between discrimination and mental health was explained by an indirect path through internalized homophobia, suggesting that internalized homophobia may influence the impact of discrimination on mental but not physical health, at least for LGB participants who conceal their sexual orientation. Model comparisons supported the indirect path between discrimination and mental health among LGB participants who conceal their sexual orientation but indicated direct paths between discrimination and both mental and physical health for LGB participants who widely disclose their sexual orientation. Efforts to reduce discrimination may be beneficial for LGB mental and physical health. Special attention to internalized homophobia is warranted for efforts to improve LGB mental health among those who are not able to be fully open about their sexual orientation.

The authors examined the various antecedents and consequences of workaholism using a sample of 336 undergraduate students in the United States. Path analysis revealed that perfectionism and negative affect significantly predicted workaholism scores. Further, the effect of workaholism on life satisfaction was significantly mediated by leisure boredom and loneliness. Another path suggested that perfectionism directly predicted loneliness, with greater loneliness being significantly related to lower life satisfaction. The authors discuss the implications for organizational interventions and suggest recommendations for future research.Various attempts to defining the construct of workaholism exist in the literature. Early definitions conceptualized workaholism in behavioral terms, particularly the amount of time spent at work (e.g., Mosier, 1983). For example, Mosier classified people as workaholics if they worked a minimum of 50 hr per week. Although workaholics typically work long hours (e.g., Machlowitz, 1980;Porter, 1996), many believe that such an approach is insufficient and even misleading (Peiperl & Jones, 2001). Rather than actual time spent at work, it has been suggested that workaholism is better defined by considering how much discretionaryThe authors thank Jirapattara Raveepatarakul for her help in reviewing this article.

Stigma and discrimination related to sexual minority status are unique stressors associated with mental and physical health concerns among sexual minority individuals. Although some theoretical models propose that the strategies sexual minorities apply to cope with these particular stressors can mediate and/or moderate their impact on mental health outcomes, only a few studies have examined this proposition empirically, typically using measures of broad coping strategies that are not discriminationspecific. A nonprobability sample of 354 self-identified lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals completed self-report measures of perceived discrimination experiences, psychological distress, and discrimination-specific coping strategies used, including education/advocacy, internalization, drug and alcohol use, resistance, and detachment strategies. Perceived discrimination explained levels of depression, anxiety, and stress after controlling for income, education, and race. Drug and alcohol use mediated the relationship between discrimination and depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. Internalization mediated the relationship between discrimination and anxiety symptoms and moderated the relationship between discrimination and depression and anxiety. The education/advocacy, resistance, and detachment strategies played no clear mediator or moderator roles in the relationship between discrimination and psychological distress. Psychological interventions that assist sexual minority clients in the development of effective coping skills, such as avoidance of drug and alcohol use for coping and internalization may reduce the harm associated with the experience of stigma and discrimination.

The Coping With Discrimination Scale (CDS) shows promise as a self-report measure of strategies for coping with racial discrimination. To assess the psychometric properties of the measure for use with sexual minorities (i.e., gay, lesbian, bisexual, or GLB persons), a nonprobability sample of 371 GLB adults completed the instrument along with several standardized, self-report measures. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the five-factor structure of the original scale with the exclusion of five items. Adequate internal consistency reliability was found. Internalization, drug and alcohol use, and detachment subscales were correlated positively with measures of psychological distress and negatively with a measure of life satisfaction, providing evidence of construct validity. The education/advocacy and resistance subscales were largely unrelated to concurrently administered validation measures, consistent with prior findings. Coping strategy use varied as a function of primary sources of social support. The CDS appears to be a psychometrically sound measure of several discrimination coping strategies for use with sexual minorities.