Exploring Shame, Guilt, and Risky Substance Use Among Sexual Minority Men and Women

Abstract

This study examined the interrelations among shame-proneness, guilt-proneness, internalized heterosexism (IH), and problematic substance use among 389 gay, lesbian, and bisexual men and women. Problematic alcohol and drug use were positively related to shame-proneness and negatively related to guilt-proneness. Bisexuals reported riskier substance use behaviors, lower levels of guilt-proneness, and higher levels of IH than gay men and lesbians. Furthermore, study findings indicated that shame and IH are related. Additional investigations of these associations would supplement current understandings of sexual minority stress and advance the development of substance-related intervention and prevention efforts targeting sexual minorities.

Keywords:

• shame
• guilt
• alcohol abuse
• drug abuse
• sexual minorities
• gay men
• lesbians
• bisexuals
• internalized heterosexism

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Award No. K01AA016105 (Amy L. Hequembourg, primary investigator) from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The content is solely our responsibility and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism or the National Institutes of Health. We equally contributed to the preparation of this manuscript.

Notes

1. Researchers have traditionally utilized the term internalized homophobia in reference to the internalization of stigma associated with being a gay man (Cabaj, 2000). However, because this term is increasingly used to refer to stigma-related stress among not only gay men, but also lesbians and bisexual-identified men and women, researchers (e.g., Szymanski & Chung, 2002are more frequently utilizing the term internalized heterosexism in place of internalized homophobia. See Amadio (2006) for a detailed explanation of this change in nomenclature.

2. All significant post hoc results are reported at p < .05.