A Systematic Review of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Research Samples in Couple and Family Therapy Journals

Hartwell, Erica E.; Serovich, Julianne M.; Reed, Sandra; Boisvert, Danielle; Falbo, Teresa

doi:10.1111/jmft.12220

Cited by 31 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 278 publications

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“…They also implied that heterosexual family research applied to families with same‐sex or bisexual parents (Clark & Serovich, 1997). One suggestion offered by Hartwell et al (2017) for improving the diversity and representation of LGBTQ + samples is to adopt quota sampling, modal instance sampling, and heterogeneity sampling to maximize the inclusion of these populations and to reduce sampling bias. Researchers should also reach out to LGBTQ + communities to actively engage and recruit participants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Representation of Diverse Populations in Couple and Family Therapy Intervention Studies: A Systematic Review of Race/Ethnicity, Sexual Orientation, Age, and Income in the United States from 2014 to 2019

et al. 2021

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Disparities in mental health care among marginalized populations have been welldocumented. Without research designed to study interventions for diverse populations, disparities in the quality of services will persist. A systematic review of articles evaluating couple and family therapy (CFT) interventions was conducted to evaluate the representation of diverse populations. More specifically, researchers sought to examine race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, income level, and age of sample participants. One hundred ninety-six studies evaluating CFT interventions in the United States in ten journals were included in the analysis. Findings indicate that family therapy research is more representative of racial minority and low-income participants compared with studies of couple interventions. Couple therapy research is often still conducted with predominately white, middle-to high-income samples. Following whites, African Americans and Hispanic/Latinos were the most common racial/ethnic groups included in both couple therapy research and family therapy research. Participants in same-sex relationships were absent from family intervention research and under-researched in couple intervention studies. Only one couple therapy study recruited a sample in which the average age was late adulthood. These findings are cause for concern given the widening mental health disparities in the United States.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Representation of Diverse Populations in Couple and Family Therapy Intervention Studies: A Systematic Review of Race/Ethnicity, Sexual Orientation, Age, and Income in the United States from 2014 to 2019

et al. 2021

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“…As it remains unclear how couple therapy works for SGM couples, we join others (e.g., Budge, Israel, & Merrill, ; Hartwell et al, ; Lebow et al, ) in calling for the CFT field to embrace a research and training agenda that is SGM inclusive and affirmative. While the field has made recent strides in considering SGM couples, there remains room for improvement.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…To date, no study has systematically reviewed the generalizability or representativeness of couple therapy outcome research in regard to couples' sexual orientation and gender identity. This systematic review differs from other reviews of SGM issues in CFT journals that focused on publications that explicitly address SGM issues (e.g., sampling and generalizability regarding GLB issues, Hartwell et al, ; content analysis of GLB studies, Hartwell et al, ). Our portal of entry is unique in that we sought not to just count inclusion of SGM couples but, at a deeper more structural level, to assess consideration of all couples' sexual and gender identities.…”

Section: Couple Functioning and Couple Therapy For All Couplesmentioning

confidence: 96%

What Does “Couple” Mean in Couple Therapy Outcome Research? A Systematic Review of the Implicit and Explicit, Inclusion and Exclusion of Gender and Sexual Minority Individuals and Identities

Spengler

DeVore

Spengler

et al. 2019

J Marital Family Therapy

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This study systematically reviewed extant couple therapy outcome studies (k = 111) through December 2018 to evaluate for implicit or explicit, inclusion or exclusion of gender and/or sexual minority individuals and identities. We evaluated sampling, participant demographic reporting, and language used in each manuscript for any reference or consideration given to participants' sexual and/or gender identity. Results indicate that couples have been historically presumed to be heterosexual and cisgender male or female without reported assessment. More recent inclusion and consideration of sexual minority individuals is limited and absent for nonmonosexual and gender minority individuals. These findings are contextualized in supplementary analyses of other sociocultural characteristics (e.g., race, age, length together). Suggestions are provided for affirmative consideration of the plurality of individuals' sexual and gender identities. Implications are discussed for research, training and practice of couple therapy with sexual and/or gender minority couples.

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“…This is probably due to the minority stress that may impede lesbians' and gay men's disclosure to researchers and, thus, their participation in studies. In this way, online surveys become an important and convenient method of collecting data from LG populations, although often with not very large samples (e.g., Hartwell et al 2017). Furthermore, sampling in the LG community limits the generalization of results.…”

Section: Strengths and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adult Attachment, Differentiation of Self, and Relationship Satisfaction in Lesbians and Gay Men

et al. 2021

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We examined adult attachment styles, differentiation of self, and relationship satisfaction in a sample of 298 Italian lesbians (48%) and gay men (52%), all of whom were ages 19–71 years (M = 36.1; SD = 11.8) and in a couple relationship for at least six months. Participants were recruited via the Internet and completed a web-based survey. We tested the hypotheses that attachment insecurity and differentiation of self would predict relationship satisfaction, as well as that differentiation of self would mediate the relationship between adult attachment and relationship satisfaction. Results supported the hypotheses, thus indicating that attachment insecurity and differentiation of self were correlated with and predicted relationship satisfaction. Furthermore, results supported the hypothesized mediating role of differentiation of self. Finally, results indicated that younger participants, lesbians, and participants in civil unions reported higher levels of relationship satisfaction. Implications for counselors and therapists working with LG populations are discussed.

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A Systematic Review of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Research Samples in Couple and Family Therapy Journals

Cited by 31 publications

References 278 publications

Representation of Diverse Populations in Couple and Family Therapy Intervention Studies: A Systematic Review of Race/Ethnicity, Sexual Orientation, Age, and Income in the United States from 2014 to 2019

Representation of Diverse Populations in Couple and Family Therapy Intervention Studies: A Systematic Review of Race/Ethnicity, Sexual Orientation, Age, and Income in the United States from 2014 to 2019

What Does “Couple” Mean in Couple Therapy Outcome Research? A Systematic Review of the Implicit and Explicit, Inclusion and Exclusion of Gender and Sexual Minority Individuals and Identities

Adult Attachment, Differentiation of Self, and Relationship Satisfaction in Lesbians and Gay Men

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