Coming out during adolescence: Perceived parents’ reactions and internalized sexual stigma

Abstract

Disclosing sexual orientation to parents is a challenging developmental task for lesbian and gay adolescents. The aim of the study is to investigate parental negative reaction to coming out, which is associated with high levels of internalized sexual stigma and psychological problems. Participants' perceptions of their parents' reactions, age at coming out, gender, parental political orientation and religiosity, family functioning, and internalized sexual stigma were assessed in 150 Italian homosexual adolescents. Findings confirm that negative parental reactions are connected to poor family functioning and strong beliefs in traditional values. Path analysis results identified that negative reaction to coming out mediates the effect between a more rigid family functioning and internalized sexual stigma. Implications for clinical and social fields are discussed.

Resources to cope with stigma related to HIV status, gender identity, and sexual orientation in gay men and transgender women

“…As reported for other stigmatized identities (Weisz et al, 2015), higher levels of outness may boost the health benefits of social support in gay men and transgender women, living or not with HIV. Acceptance by significant others, such as family and friends—after sharing an HIV diagnosis or revealing one’s true self—allows people to recapture a feeling of self-confidence and control over their lives and therefore, to continue with personal projects and goals (Baiocco et al, 2014). As known, human beings need to be accepted by others, belong to a group, and have affectionate and pleasant exchanges with other people in a context of stability (Baumeister and Leary, 1995; Williams, 2007).…”

The Coming-Out Process in Family, Social, and Religious Contexts Among Young, Middle, and Older Italian LGBQ+ Adults

“…In Italy, cis-heterosexism and cis-heteronormativity is pervasive at an institutional level, and LGBQ+ people face stigma and prejudice in several contexts (Baiocco and Pistella, 2019;Rollè et al, 2020). Previous research has identified the family, school, and healthcare arenas as potentially negative environments for Italian sexual minorities (Baiocco et al, 2015(Baiocco et al, , 2020Rosati et al, 2020), and other research has highlighted the relationship between ISS and CO (Baiocco et al, 2016;Pistella et al, 2020b). As mentioned above, another environment potentially causing minority stress for Italian sexual minorities is represented by the Catholic Church: a recent study (Garelli, 2013) estimated that approximately 80% of Italian citizens identify as Catholic, thus for sure including also a share of the Italian LGBQ+ population.…”

Perspektiva študentov zdravstvene nege do istospolno usmerjenih

“…Raziskava, ki sta jo izvedla Švab in Kuhar (2005), kaže, da se homoseksualci res najprej razkrijejo prijateljem, ker lahko predvidevajo njihovo reakcijo, medtem ko je razkritje v družinskem okolju nekoliko težje in bolj čustveno. Reakcije staršev so različne ter odvisne od splošnih odnosov v družini, povezanosti med družinskimi člani, stopnje religioznosti ter stopnje upoštevanja tradicionalnih vzorcev (Švab & Kuhar, 2005;Baiocco, et al, 2016).…”