Loneliness and the Celibate, Gay Christian

摘要

The present study identifies loneliness as a universal experience that negatively impacts health. There is little research on the celibate, gay Christian's experience with loneliness and capacity to cope. This qualitative study involved phone interviews with twelve celibate Christian sexual minorities, exploring the factors contributing to their pursuit of celibacy, their experience of loneliness, and their capacity to cope with loneliness. The researchers found that celibate individuals do experience distressing loneliness. Celibate sexual minorities identified a multitude of coping skills to manage loneliness, although loneliness negatively impacted overall wellbeing. The most prominent helpful means of coping were mediated by social support and religious/spiritual coping, while unhelpful means of coping included value-incongruent strategies such as compulsive sexual behaviors. The results offer insight into the experience of loneliness and coping for those who are navigating questions of sexual and religious identity.