Homophobia and attitudes toward gay men and lesbians by psychiatric nurses.

Stereotypic and stigmatic attitudes toward homosexuality may interfere both directly and indirectly with the care provided to gay and lesbian patients. The purpose of this study was to measure attitudes toward gays and lesbians and assess homophobia among psychiatric nurses. The demographic characteristics of education, religious identification, and knowledge of gays and lesbians had positive affects on attitudes and homophobia. The Attitudes Towards Gays and Lesbians Scale (ATGLS) developed by the researcher specifically for this study assessed cognitive attitudes and the Index of Homophobia (IHP), developed by Hudson and Ricketts (1980), measured homophobia, the affective response to gays and lesbians.