To what extent do marriage and family therapy journals address gay, lesbian, and bisexual issues and how does this coverage compare to allied fields? To answer these questions, a content analysis was conducted on articles published in the marriage and family therapy literature from 1975 to 1995. Of the 13,217 articles examined in 17 journals, only 77 (.006%) focused on gay, lesbian, and/or bisexual issues or used sexual orientation as a variable. Findings support the contention that gay, lesbian, and bisexual issues are ignored by marriage and family therapy researchers and scholars.

The purpose of the study discussed in this article was to investigate the relationship between social support and alcoholism among lesbians. Fifteen lesbian alcoholics and 15 lesbian nonalcoholics were administered a questionnaire covering their childhood and adolescent history, social support systems, history of drinking, and demographic information. The findings suggested that the alcoholic lesbians' current support systems were not as disrupted as had been anticipated. However, the alcoholic lesbians more often reported having had a less supportive childhood and adolescence, feeling unloved and unwanted, experiencing conflict with adults in their families, and having had a parent with a drinking problem. The implications of these findings for treatment are discussed.

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