Cognitive-affective and religious values associated with parental acceptance of an LGBT child.

Abstract

Parental reactions to a child's lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) identity are impacted by a process of cognitive-affective experiences and behavioral responses that are influenced by contextual factors that may include parents' religious value system. The purpose of this study was to test a theoretically based model of parental acceptance that included cognitive-affective factors (cognitive flexibility, emotional regulation), religious-value based factors (religious fundamentalism, parental sanctification), and demographic characteristics (parent gender, parent sexual identity, child gender, and years out). Participants were 663 parents of LGBT children who submitted responses to an online survey. A Tobit regression analysis with a singleindicator latent variable approach revealed that higher levels of the control component of cognitive flexibility, lower religious fundamentalism, higher parental sanctification, parent gender (female), and parent sexual identity (nonheterosexual) were significantly associated with higher levels of parental acceptance. Findings suggest that attending to these factors in future research and clinical practice may be important to the health and well-being of families that include LGBT children. Public Significance StatementReligious values may play a complex role in the parental acceptance process. Religious fundamentalism may interfere with parental acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) children, while in other religious contexts parental sanctification may facilitate parental acceptance.

Experiences of parent allies of LGBTIQ people during the Australian Marriage survey.

“…Like other studies of parents of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) people (e.g., Abreu et al, 2020; Gonzalez et al, 2013; Rosenkranz et al, 2020), the majority of the parents in this sample self-identified as female. Few studies have focused on fathers of LGBTIQ people.…”

“…Parents, like LGBTIQ people, have intersecting social identities that may come into conflict with each other and complicate experiences of affiliate stigma and secondary minority stress. These identities, however, may also provide sources of strength and support (e.g., Abreu et al, 2020; Rosenkrantz et al, 2020).…”

Parental acceptance of lesbian, gay, and bisexual children in Taiwan: Towards relationship‐based practice

“…For example, early awareness and prior knowledge of sexual orientation contribute to parents' affirmative attitudes by providing them with the opportunity to prepare psychologically and access to resources to address their child's coming out (Ben‐Ari, 1995; Saltzburg, 2004; Samarova et al, 2014; Trussell et al, 2015; van Bergen et al, 2020). Regarding the child's coming out as a stressful event, some researchers have sought to identify individual capacities and family environments that can facilitate parental acceptance, including flexibility and adaptability, clear family boundaries, and intact family functioning (Baiocco et al, 2015; DeVine, 1984; Rosenkrantz et al, 2020; Willoughby et al, 2008). Studies on parents with an LGB child have also cited other interpersonal factors involved in their acceptance, including a close bond and ongoing communication with their child (Goodrich, 2009; Phillips & Ancis, 2008; Samarova et al, 2014), support from friends and extended family (Ghosh, 2020; Goodrich, 2009; Phillips & Ancis, 2008; Saltzburg, 2004; Trussell et al, 2015), and guidance from parents who have undergone similar experiences (Goodrich, 2009; Wong & Poon, 2013).…”

Working With Suicidal and Homeless LGBTQ+ Youth in the Context of Family Rejection

“…If families can be convinced to refer to transgender youth by their own chosen names, this could have a measurable effect on their depression levels and suicide risk (Russell et al, 2018). Parental cognitive flexibility helps families to be accepting, while religious fundamentalism has been shown to be a barrier (Rosenkrantz et al, 2020). Families of LGBTQ+ youth experience stigma and shame, thus the minority stress theory could be useful to consider in understanding their needs as much as those of their children (Tobkes and Davidson, 2017).…”