Objective As older LGBTQ+ people are less likely to be married than non‐LGBTQ+ peers and historically may have been disconnected from their families of origin, the aim of this study was to understand the family life of single sexual minority women of the baby boom cohort throughout their lives. Background Singlehood, in general, has meant not being in a heterosexual—or legally recognized—relationship; thus women in same‐sex relationships historically were considered single. As women gained more rights, single and lesbian, bisexual, and queer women have gained opportunities to live outside heterosexual marriage, financially and with regard to social acceptability. Women of the baby boom cohort, born between 1946 and 1964, came of age during this societal shift. Method Framed by feminist and life course perspectives, this study was qualitative, used semistructured interviews, and was guided by a constructivist paradigm and thematic analysis to understand how 13 older sexual minority women perceived family. Findings The women noted their connection to family of origin, then romantic relationships and partners, and currently, identify family as including biological, adopted, and chosen kin. Conclusion Single LBQ women of the baby boom cohort have relational resources through friends as family, biological kin, legal kin, and creating community. Implications More expansive understandings of family, including chosen family and invisible kin, comprise the support networks of older women who have lived outside heteronormativity.

This article examines how families are theorized at the complex crossroads of age, sexuality, and gender, and explores theoretical innovations derived from analyses embedded in the families of LGBTQ older adults, who have lived outside the embrace of heteronormativity. To address the extent of theorizing, we conducted a content analysis of 36 studies from 2010 to 2019. The articles revealed a social justice orientation that contextualized the marginalization and resilience in the social-historical framing of LGBTQ older adults' family life. Most articles used theory explicitly or implicitly, including life course, minority stress, and intersectionality theories, and demonstrated the intimate connection of theory and research. Future theorizing about the families of LGBTQ older adults requires more diverse samples, contextualization of LGBTQ older adults' families through critical approaches such as queer theory, and the opportunity to study new avenues into intra-and

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In this article, we address foundational and innovative aspects of preparing educators who teach about families, including theoretical, methodological, and practical considerations. We approach our task by defining and utilizing a human development and family science (HDFS) worldview, which, like the related foci on translational family science and family life education, integrates both the need for comprehensive academic grounding and professional preparation in the service of improving individual and family lives. We integrate the HDFS worldview with critical pedagogy and feminist praxis in family science that explicitly calls attention to inequality, oppression, and the need to empower individuals, families, communities, and societies. One of the hallmarks of HDFS scholarship and pedagogy on families is the intentional approach of teaching students to work in fields where they are seeking to name and redress individual and family vulnerability. In addition, we provide a comprehensive case study of collegiate education for training graduate students who are preparing to teach undergraduate students in the interdisciplinary field of HDFS. Finally, we provide directions for future research and implications for practice in HDFS pedagogy and teacher training in academic and community settings.

Guided by a feminist perspective, the authors examined young men's recollection of their reactions to and the familial and social contexts in which they realized that they were seeing an explicit sexual image for the first time. The sample consisted of 199 young men enrolled in a human sexuality class who responded to questions regarding the what, when, where, with whom, and how they felt about and reacted to seeing a sexualized image. On average, participants were in elementary school and without adult supervision when they found their first image in a form of media that was readily available in the home. Implications for family life education for both parents and children include direct and knowledgeable communication about sexuality to counter the often sensationalizing, objectifying, and entitled culture in which boys are informally initiated into adult sexuality.

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As the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic disrupted all aspects of life, parents have been subjected to more household and caregiving responsibilities and stressors. The purpose of this study is to investigate how hope, self-compassion, and perception of COVID-19 health risks influence parenting stress. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 362 parents living in the United States completed an online survey in July 2020. Multiple regression analyses revealed that higher levels of hope are related to lower levels of parenting stress. On the other hand, lower levels of self-compassion as indicated by higher scores on the subscales of isolation, self-judgment, and overidentification are related to higher levels of parenting stress. Further, testing positive for the coronavirus is positively related to parenting stress, whereas the belief that COVID-19 is a serious disease is negatively related to parenting stress. Findings also revealed the significant role of hope in moderating the relation between self-compassion and parenting stress. This study highlights the importance of nurturing and drawing from one’s own psychological resources to mitigate parenting stress, particularly in the context of a chronic source of stress like a pandemic. Implications for the counseling profession are discussed.