Family trouble: Heteronormativity, emotion work and queer youth mental health

Abstract

Conflict with the family about sexual orientation and gender diversity is a key risk factor associated with poor mental health in youth populations. Findings presented here derive from a UK study that employed an interdisciplinary critical mental health approach that de-pathologised emotional distress and conceptualised families as social and affective units that are created through everyday practices. Our aim was to explore how family relationships foster, maintain or harm the mental health and well-being of LGBTQ+ youth. Data were generated through exploratory visual, creative and digital qualitative methods in two phases. Phase 1 involved digital/paper emotion maps and interviews with LGBTQ+ youth aged 16 to 25 (n = 12) and family member/mentor interviews (n = 7). Phase 2 employed diary methods and follow-up interviews (n = 9). The data analytic strategy involved three stages: individual case analysis, cross-sectional thematic analysis and meta-interpretation. We found that family relationships impacted queer youth mental health in complex ways that were related to the establishment of their autonomous queer selves, the desire to remain belonging to their family and Article Health 00 (0) the need to maintain a secure environment. The emotion work involved in navigating identity, belonging and security was made difficult because of family heteronormativity, youth autonomy and family expectations, and had a stark impact on queer youth mental health and well-being. Improving the mental health of LGBTQ+ youth requires a much deeper understanding of the emotionality of family relationships and the difficulties negotiating these as a young person.

Mentoring Young African American Men and Transgender Women Who Have Sex With Men on Sexual Health: Formative Research for an HIV Mobile Health Intervention for Mentors

“…Participants in this study also expressed a need to focus on the mental health of the mentees. This is consistent with previous research showing that the emotion work involved in navigating a queer identity and maintaining a sense of belonging and security among youth has a stark impact on youth mental health and well-being [47]. Although mental health concerns were not the original focus of the app and this study, this was subsequently added as a module to HIV-focused content based on current findings.…”

Prevalence of self-harm among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adolescents: a comparison of personal and social adversity with a heterosexual sample in Ghana

“…While homosexual related legislation does not necessarily lead to reductions in self-harm and suicide in members of sexual or gender minorities [40], it is now well documented that pro-homosexual legislation, together with acceptances by others, supportive family and public attitudes and secure environment, have the potential of leading to positive health outcomes in persons identifying as sexual or gender minority [36,[41][42][43]. The evidence of this study underscores the need for families, school staff, social and healthcare professionals to show positive attitudes and be supportive of LGBT adolescents, thereby creating a secure environment to reduce vulnerabilities and risks to self-harm.…”

Queer (Re)visions of Archive, Affect, and Place in Child and Youth Care

“…Although transgender individuals are disproportionately subject to adversity, transgender youth who receive higher levels of support from their families have been shown to experience better mental health outcomes, including lower likelihood of engaging in nonsuicidal self-injury, lower rates of suicidal ideation, fewer suicide attempts, fewer depressive symptoms, a decreased sense of burdensomeness stemming from the youth's transgender identity, higher selfesteem, and higher levels of life satisfaction (Simons et al, 2013;Travers et al, 2012;Veale et al, 2015). (Katz-Wise et al, 2017, p. 28) With the intent to "de-pathologize emotional distress" that LGBTQ+ youth in their U.K. study had experienced, Elizabeth McDermott et al (2019) focused on LGBTQ+ youth's mental health and its intersection with family relationships using a "relationship-oriented perspective" (p. 179). McDermott et al's discussion placed the onus on the family collective rather than the individual and, in doing so, recognized that the norms and expectations of heteronormativity in a family can take on the function of "levels of heteronormative surveillance" (p. 191).…”